Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least two people and damaged targets in regions along Russia’s Volga River overnight, Russian regional officials said on Sunday, 2 August.
The attacks included a strike on a warehouse operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air-defence systems had intercepted and destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones during the night.
A fire broke out at the warehouse following the strike, according to the company. Wildberries said preliminary information indicated that no employees had been injured, while shipments and deliveries were being redirected to other facilities.
Ukrainian forces have targeted about a dozen Wildberries sites since 18 July as part of an expanding campaign against economic, energy and logistics infrastructure inside Russia.
The company, often described as Russia’s equivalent of Amazon, plays a major role in the country’s consumer economy. Kyiv has previously said that some Wildberries facilities were involved in distributing goods or components linked to Russia’s war effort.
In the neighbouring Saratov region, a drone struck a residential building in the city of Engels, killing two people, Governor Roman Busargin said.
Busargin reported damage to civilian infrastructure in both Engels and Saratov.
Engels is home to a major Russian military airbase, while Saratov hosts a large oil refinery. Both cities have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian drones during the war.
Ukrainian forces confirmed it targeted the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia as well as an oil depot in the western Kaluga region.
Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to strike targets deep inside Russia, focusing on military, energy and economic infrastructure that it says supports Moscow’s war effort.
Kyiv hopes the attacks will disrupt supply chains and weaken Russia’s ability to continue the war, which began with Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the latest strikes.
Meanwhile, Russia pounded Kyiv and the region in a heavy ballistic missile attack early on Saturday (1 August), killing 10 people, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine had run out of interceptor missiles for its U.S. Patriot air defence systems.
Zelenskyy said that Russia launched 35 missiles at Ukraine, including 27 ballistic missiles, and also 185 drones. Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, "simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot system", he said.
More than a dozen explosions reverberated through the city during several waves of attacks, according to Reuters witnesses.
"Every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people. And every night without them results in more casualties," Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source wh...
Central Asia’s economy has surpassed $543 billion, driven by Kazakhstan’s economic weight, strong exports and foreign investment, while growing tr...
The United Nations refugee agency is planning a settlement and carpet-weaving workshop for Afghan returnees in Kabul as the country grapples with larg...
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Ukraine has agreed to refrain from targeting certain tankers using Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance, the Financial Times reported, although Kyiv has continued strikes on Russian targets at the port.
Taiwan has criticised a planned joint naval exercise involving China and Indonesia near its eastern waters, describing it as a politically charged move designed to strengthen Beijing's claims over areas surrounding the island.
An overnight Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk killed an eight-year-old child, injured others and damaged residential buildings, port infrastructure and grain facilities, Russian officials and industry sources said on Wednesday.
Romanian military divers have destroyed two Gerbera-type drones found drifting near the Neptun Deep offshore gas development in the country’s Black Sea exclusive economic zone.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment