Ukrainian Drone Strike Hits Wildberries Logistics Hub Near Saint-Petersburg

Attack on Wildberries Logistics Hub Near Saint-Pétersbourg

The strike on Friday morning targeted a facility belonging to the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, often referred to as the Amazon of Russia. According to the governor of the Leningrad region, Alexandre Drozdenko, the drone strike ignited a blaze at the center, leaving three people injured. Local reports and social media imagery showed a large plume of gray smoke rising over the site, which is located more than 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

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In response to the security situation, the Pulkovo Airport in Saint-Pétersbourg temporarily suspended flight operations. While the airport resumed activity by 6:00 a.m. local time (5:00 a.m. Paris), the disruption resulted in about fifty flight departures being affected. Wildberries confirmed that two of its warehouses in the area had halted operations, though the company did not provide specific reasons for the suspension in its public statement.

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Russian Defense Response and Investigations

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its air defense systems intercepted a total of 571 Ukrainian drones overnight across fifteen regions and the annexed Crimean peninsula. Specifically regarding the Saint-Pétersbourg incident, Governor Drozdenko noted that 59 of those drones were neutralized over the region.

Russian authorities have initiated an investigation into the incident, classifying the drone strike as an attentat (terrorist attack) targeting civilian infrastructure sites, including a logistics center, according to the Russian Investigative Committee. This response follows a pattern where Russian officials typically emphasize the interception of incoming drones or blame fires on falling debris rather than acknowledging direct hits on strategic targets.

Strategic Targeting of the Amazon of Russia

The Friday strike is the third time in a few days that Wildberries facilities have been targeted. In the night of July 18 to 19, attacks on warehouses near Moscow and in the Tambov region resulted in the death of eight employees of the night shift and the destruction of the facilities.

The Ukrainian government has justified these operations by identifying the logistics network as a component of the Russian war machine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has alleged that the company was storing and shipping sanctioned components intended for the manufacture of military equipment, a claim that Moscow continues to deny.

Orysia Lutsevych stated via franceinfo that Ukraine is capable of conducting these long-range strikes and must hinder Russian production of drones and ballistic missiles.

This shift in targeting represents a departure from earlier, more exclusive focus on oil refineries and energy infrastructure, moving toward the core of the Russian economy and daily logistics.

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Escalation of Long-Range Strikes

The broader campaign, which Kyiv describes as sanctions à longue portée (long-range sanctions), is viewed as a direct response to ongoing Russian strikes against Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure. The intensity of these exchanges has reached a point where, according to UN data cited by franceinfo, the month of June was the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians since the spring of 2022.

The conflict has also impacted international logistics. As both sides continue to engage in a war of attrition, the targeting of logistics centers and fuel production capacity remains a critical pressure point for the Russian domestic economy, which has already seen fuel rationing across nearly 90% of its regions since June, according to counts based on local reports.