Ukrainian Drones Cripple Russia’s Largest Retailer’s Warehouses
Ukrainian long-range drones struck two vast logistics hubs of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, near Moscow and in Tambov overnight, causing fires and losses estimated at up to 100 billion roubles, around $1.3bn. Russian governors said the strikes killed eight and injured more than sixty. On the front, Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, again claimed sweeping advances in Donetsk that war analysts say the evidence does not support.
The Institute for the Study of War assesses that Russian forces actually lost territory at about 1.6 square kilometres a day in the first half of July, casting General Gerasimov’s choreographed claims as cognitive warfare rather than battlefield reality. Kyiv’s deepening campaign against shipping, energy and now civilian-facing logistics is diverting elite Russian drone units from the front and straining an already weakening war economy amid falling approval for President Putin. Casualty and damage figures on both sides are single-sourced and should be treated with care. Watch whether these economic strikes provoke a Russian escalation or begin to shift domestic sentiment.