Ukrainian Drone Strikes Kill Eight Across Russia, Target Commercial Infrastructure

At least eight people were killed in overnight Ukrainian drone attacks across multiple Russian regions, authorities said on Sunday. The strikes targeted civilian and commercial infrastructure, including a warehouse owned by Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer. Russia's defence ministry said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones overnight, as cited by Reuters. A Ukrainian drone struck an area near a playground in Russia's border region of Belgorod, killing a child and injuring two others, acting Governor Alexander Shuvayev said. In the neighbouring Saratov region, a drone strike on a residential building in the city of Engels killed two people, Governor Roman Busargin said. He added that civilian infrastructure was also damaged in both Engels and the regional capital, Saratov. Saratov, home to a major oil refinery, and Engels, which hosts a military airbase, have been frequent targets of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent years.

Elsewhere, three people were killed and two injured in a drone strike on Russia's Udmurtia region, acting Governor Olga Abramova said. In Belgorod, local authorities reported that separate Ukrainian strikes killed three people and injured five others. Air defence units repelled a large-scale Ukrainian drone attack targeting industrial facilities in Russia's Bashkortostan region, Governor Radiy Khabirov said. He said one drone was shot down over the industrial district of the regional capital, Ufa, where emergency crews were working to extinguish a fire.

Separately, Russia's defence ministry said its forces struck infrastructure and two vessels carrying military cargo at the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, as well as another vessel transporting military supplies in the Black Sea. In southeastern Ukraine, Russian glide bomb attacks killed one person and injured 21 others in the city of Zaporizhzhia, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Wildberries, Russia's largest online marketplace and often described as the country's equivalent of Amazon, has emerged as one of the targets of that campaign. In less than two weeks, Ukrainian drones have struck more than a dozen of the company's warehouses, part of Kyiv's broader strategy to disrupt Russia's economy and bring the impact of the war closer to the Russian public.