Symbolic imageUkrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouses and Kirov arms plant
Overnight into July 24, 2026, Ukrainian drones struck logistics complexes of Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries near St Petersburg, in the Leningrad region and in occupied Simferopol — the fourth such attack in a week. A separate strike on the Avitek plant in Kirov killed six people and injured 26, according to the regional governor. Russia's Defence Ministry said it downed 571 drones over 15 regions, making it one of the largest Ukrainian long-range attacks of the year.
What happened
Ukrainian drones attacked targets across Russia overnight into July 24, 2026. Russia's Defence Ministry reported shooting down 571 drones over 15 regions, occupied Crimea and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea; state agency TASS called it one of the year's largest attacks, behind June 26, when the ministry reported 660 drones destroyed. The ministry publishes only the number of drones it downs, so the total launched is unknown. Wildberries confirmed strikes on its logistics complexes in Shushary near St Petersburg, in the Utkina Zavod industrial zone in Novosaratovka in the Leningrad region, and on its sorting centre in Simferopol in occupied Crimea. Operations at the St Petersburg and Leningrad sites were suspended, and Russian investigators opened a criminal case for a terrorist attack. Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said three people were injured; the Investigative Committee confirmed casualties without giving a figure, while Wildberries said preliminary information showed no one was hurt because staff had been evacuated in advance. Neighbouring buildings burned, including a distribution centre of the construction supplier Petrovich, and a warehouse at the Severnaya poultry farm in Sinyavino collapsed. Reports of a hit in Tver remain unconfirmed. In Kirov, Governor Alexander Sokolov said a strike on the Avitek plant killed six and injured 26. It was the fourth attack on Wildberries since July 18; by Reuters' count eight warehouses, more than 10 percent of the company's logistics capacity, have been hit, with eight workers killed in the first strike alone and further deaths in Elektrostal and Krasnodar.
The camps
Ukraine has not commented on the July 24 warehouse strikes. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces hit one of Kirov's most important military enterprises, which Kyiv says produces anti-aircraft guided missiles. In earlier attacks he described the Wildberries sites as logistics hubs supplying the Russian military with drone components, navigation equipment and sanctioned parts, and said Ukraine was 'with full justification taking the war back into Russia.' The Kremlin denies that Wildberries handles military supplies. Company founder Tatyana Kim said the strikes on St Petersburg, the Leningrad region and Simferopol saved only part of the premises and goods, thanked staff for a rapid evacuation, and accused Ukraine of attacking ordinary people doing their jobs. Russian regional governors described the targets as civilian infrastructure.
The view from outside
Outlets outside the two states read the campaign mainly through its economic effect. Daily Sabah, citing agency reporting, frames it as a widening Kyiv effort to damage Russia's economy and logistics chains and to make ordinary Russians feel a war fought for more than four years on Ukrainian soil; it notes the European Union sanctioned Wildberries' banking arm this week over its contribution to the Russian budget. Folha de S.Paulo, republishing BBC News Brasil, focuses on the small and medium sellers who depend on the platform, quoting a woman who said she lost a million roubles, and reports that 85 to 90 percent of Russia's economically active population uses Wildberries or its rival Ozon, which together account for sales equivalent to a large share of consumer spending. The New York Times places the day inside a mutual escalation, with Russian bombing striking Kyiv the same night.
What's new
The campaign has moved north and become simultaneous. Earlier strikes since July 18 hit the Moscow, Tambov and Voronezh regions plus Krasnodar and Stavropol Krai; July 24 was the first to reach the St Petersburg area and occupied Crimea. It also combined commercial logistics targets with a declared military plant in Kirov on the same night, and produced the campaign's second mass-casualty toll after Kotovsk and Elektrostal. Some earlier sites have partially recovered — Voronezh resumed within half a day, Kotovsk on a limited basis from July 23 — while Elektrostal and Nevinnomyssk remain closed.
What could happen next
Kyiv may continue targeting logistics and industrial sites, deepening disruption at a retailer that reaches most Russian households and, according to its owner, forcing goods to be redistributed between surviving warehouses. Alternatively, the strikes could harden Russian framing of the attacks as terrorism against civilians, feeding the criminal cases already opened and prompting reinforced air defence around commercial hubs far from the front. A third path runs through reciprocity: Russia has struck Ukrainian sorting centres and warehouses belonging to Nova Poshta, ATB and Roshen, and both sides may extend the exchange to further civilian logistics infrastructure.
Ukraine: Says it is hitting logistics hubs that supply the Russian military with drone components, navigation gear and sanctioned parts, and a plant producing anti-aircraft missiles.
Russia: Calls the strikes attacks on civilian infrastructure and ordinary workers, denies Wildberries handles military supplies, and has opened terrorism cases.
Also involved