A series of drone attacks targeted the Moscow and Rostov regions overnight into August 16, causing fires at several warehouses and resulting in casualties.
In the city of Podolsk, a drone strike caused a fire at a Wildberries warehouse in the Koledino industrial park, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said.
Vorobyov said all employees had been evacuated and that none were injured. Videos showed a large fire at the site being tackled by helicopters. The Koledino facility is one of Wildberries' largest warehouses.
The facility has been repeatedly targeted in a wider campaign against Wildberries warehouses across Russia since mid-July. Reuters reported in late July that at least seven of the retailer's warehouses had been damaged in a matter of days, while AP said more than a dozen facilities had been attacked by early August.
Ukrainian authorities allege that the e-commerce company’s warehouses are involved in supplying Russian military needs. Wildberries and the Kremlin have denied that.
A second fire was reported at a warehouse containing medicines in Domodedovo, south of Moscow. Analysts identified it as a storage facility the Severnoye Domodedovo logistics center. Ukrainian monitoring channels published numerous videos showing burning warehouses.
Vorobyov said an elderly man was killed after a drone struck a private house in the Ramensky district of the Moscow region. He also reported six people injured.
Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyani said three people were injured near the Moscow Ring Road, without specifying the circumstances.
In the southern Rostov region, Governor Yury Slyusar reported that three people were killed and one was injured in an attack. He did not specify what facility or area had been targeted.
Vorobyov described the attack on the Moscow region as one of the largest in recent times. Sobyanin said around 600 drones had flown toward Moscow since the evening of August 15, with 201 destroyed over the Moscow region.
The Russian military separately reported that 822 drones had been shot down overnight, without specifying how many drones were not intercepted.
The Ukrainian military has not commented on the strikes.
Meanwhile, overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine killed at least one person and injured about 20, Ukrainian officials said.
In Kryviy Rih, an industrial facility was damaged, killing one person and injuring 14 others.
Kyiv reported several fires, including at the Petrovka book market, which was destroyed after catching fire for a second time. Three people were injured in Kyiv and three more in the surrounding Kyiv region. Ukraine's Air Force said Russia attacked Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Kryviy Rih with missiles and 106 drones.
