Ukrainian drone strikes kill two and hit Wildberries warehouse in Russia

Ukrainian drone strikes kill two and hit Wildberries warehouse in Russia
Smoke billows into the sky from the direction of a Wildberries warehouse in Volgograd, Volgograd region, Russia, 31 July 2026 Image obtained from a video
Reuters

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.

Samara regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said Ukrainian drones had hit a Wildberries logistics facility in the region, around 800 kilometres from Ukraine’s forward military positions.

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.

Two killed in Engels

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 expands long-range strikes

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.

Kyiv rocked by ballistic missiles Saturday

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.

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