Ukraine launched one of its largest coordinated drone attacks of the war overnight, targeting infrastructure across 16 Russian regions and striking the Wildberries logistics hub in Tambov Oblast for the second time in recent days, according to Russian regional officials and Ukrainian military sources.
Tambov Oblast Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov confirmed the Wildberries facility was hit in what he called a massive drone attack, causing a fire that spread over 100,000 square meters. The Wildberries platform, Russia’s largest e-commerce company, has now been targeted repeatedly by Ukrainian long-range drones as Kyiv escalates strikes against commercial logistics infrastructure.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported intercepting over 170 Ukrainian drones overnight, with air defense systems activated in regions from Bryansk and Kursk in the west to Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk in the Urals. Despite the interceptions, multiple drones penetrated defenses and struck their intended targets, according to regional governors who reported damage to energy facilities and industrial sites.
Wildberries Becomes Recurring Target
The repeated strikes on Wildberries logistics centers represent a significant escalation in Ukraine’s targeting strategy. The company, owned by Russian oligarch Tatyana Bakalchuk, operates one of the country’s largest distribution networks, moving billions of dollars in goods annually. The attacks have forced evacuations of hundreds of employees and disrupted supply chains across multiple regions.
Previous strikes on Ozon warehouses in Dagestan, Stavropol Krai, and Adygea in August caused Ozon shares to fall 12% on Russian exchanges, demonstrating the economic impact of targeting e-commerce infrastructure. The Wildberries attacks are expected to have similar market effects once trading data becomes available.
Ukrainian military analysts say the logistics hub strikes are designed to disrupt Russia’s domestic economy and create visible consequences for the war within Russian borders. Unlike strikes on military targets deep behind the front lines, attacks on commercial warehouses generate widespread public attention and economic disruption.
Strategic Targets Hit Across Russia
In addition to the Wildberries facility, Ukrainian drones struck energy infrastructure in several regions, including oil refineries and power distribution networks. The Perm oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest processing facilities, was set ablaze in an earlier wave of attacks, according to the Ukrainian General Staff.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed that military facilities in the Kiev and Odessa regions were also struck with long-range precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles in a retaliatory wave. The exchanges underscore the intensifying aerial dimension of the war, with both sides increasingly relying on drone and missile strikes to target infrastructure far from the front lines.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that Russia lost approximately 1,450 personnel, 1,723 drones, and 74 artillery systems on August 25 alone, bringing total estimated Russian losses since February 2022 to over 1.35 million personnel. The figures, which Russia does not independently verify, reflect the scale of attrition in the fifth year of the conflict.
Deep Strikes Reshape Battlefield
Ukraine’s ability to strike deep into Russian territory has improved dramatically over the past year, with longer-range drones and coordinated multi-axis attacks allowing Kyiv to reach targets that were previously beyond reach. The strikes on logistics hubs represent a shift from purely military targets to economic infrastructure, a strategy designed to impose costs on Russia’s war economy.
Russian air defense forces have been stretched thin by the volume of attacks, with air defense units pulled from front-line positions to protect critical infrastructure in major cities. Western analysts say the combination of mass drone attacks and precision strikes on logistics networks is degrading Russia’s ability to sustain its war effort over the long term.
The overnight wave came hours before expected Kremlin statements on a range of security topics, including the ongoing NATO military exercises near Russia’s borders. The tempo of drone operations on both sides shows no sign of abating, with both Moscow and Kyiv investing heavily in drone production and air defense systems.
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