Ukrainian drones hit Russia's economy as the Kremlin hardens territorial demands
Ukrainian long-range drones have destroyed two huge logistics warehouses of the online retailer Wildberries near Moscow and in the Tambov region; at least eight people died. Kyiv says the warehouses supplied drone production. At the same time, the Kremlin is signaling that it wants to keep occupied territories permanently.
Ukraine has expanded its long-range campaign against Russia's war economy and is now also hitting logistics used for both civilian and military purposes. In the strike on two Wildberries warehouses in Elektrostal near Moscow and in Kotovsk in the Tambov region, at least eight people were killed according to reports; the Russian exile outlet Meduza describes the devastation on the ground and the dispute among Russian commentators over whether this was a legitimate target or a war crime. President Zelensky justifies the strikes by saying the warehouses supplied components for drones and navigation technology. Bloomberg and Politico read the attacks as targeted economic pressure on Moscow, whose financial markets are suffering under the campaign. The Kremlin, for its part, is hardening its negotiating position according to Bloomberg: Russia says it no longer wants to return some occupied areas and blames the US for the blockade. State-aligned outlets such as Serbia's Politika stress the Russian line of tolerating no NATO troops in Ukraine. Accounts of the warehouses diverge widely over civilian casualties and the legal assessment of the attacks under international law.