Ukrainian Drone Attack Kills Eight in Russia, Strikes Wildberries Warehouse; Moscow Restaurant Explosion Death Toll Rises to Five

Ukraine launched a huge drone attack on Russia overnight on Saturday, killing eight people as they fired at least 635 drones at targets including a Wildberries warehouse, Russian officials said.

Kyiv has attacked about a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 in a bid to disrupt the operations of the company, a linchpin of the consumer economy that Kyiv says helps bolster Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

A Wildberries site in the Samara region, around 800 km (500 miles) from Ukraine's most advanced military positions, was attacked, Samara governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it downed 635 Ukrainian drones during the night. Moscow does not typically reveal the total number of projectiles fired by Ukraine.

Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least eight people in Russian regions overnight and on Sunday, hitting targets including a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, regional officials said.

Kyiv's drones attacked a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, around 800 km (500 miles) from Ukraine's most advanced military positions, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. He said there were no casualties and that a fire that had broken out as a result of the attack was being put out.

Ukrainian forces have been striking deeper inside Russia as they expand strikes on economic and energy targets, hoping to undermine Moscow's ability to wage its more than four-year-old war in Ukraine.

At least eight people in Russian regions overnight and on Sunday, after Kyiv launched at least 635 drones in a mass attack.

Among the targets was a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, regional officials said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it downed 635 Ukrainian drones during the night. Moscow does not typically reveal the total number of projectiles fired by Ukraine.

The acting governor of Russia's border region of Belgorod, Alexander Shuvayev, said a Ukrainian drone struck an area next to a playground, killing one child and injuring two.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia's commissioner for children's rights, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the strike was "another inhumane terrorist act" by Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine's drones attacked a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, around 800 km (500 miles) from Ukraine's most advanced military positions, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. Fedorishchev said there were no casualties and that a fire that broke out as a result of the attack was being put out.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has been turning its attention to attacking large warehouses owned by Wildberries.

Wildberries is Russia's largest online marketplace. It has been called the country's equivalent of Amazon, as its business model resembles a mix of Amazon Marketplace, eBay, and Temu.

Founded in 2004 by Tatyana Kim, who is now Russia's richest woman, the company has since become the dominant e-commerce platform in Russia and several neighbouring countries.

Hosting millions of third-party sellers, the platform sells almost everything, from electronics to groceries. The marketplace features clothes, books, cosmetics, toys, appliances, household items, sports gear and much more. There’s an “E-Pharmacy” page and a travel section for booking plane tickets or hotels.

It operates a vast network of warehouses, sorting centres, and logistics hubs across Russia.

In 2021, Kim acquired a small bank and turned it into what now is Wildberries Bank, but that institution has since come under sanctions by the U.K. and the European Union.

Now, its facilities are being deliberately targeted by Ukrainian drones.

It comes after at least five people have been killed and 21 injured after a woman brought a homemade bomb near a central Moscow restaurant, according to Russian officials.

The explosion, which occurred at around 7:55pm local time (5:55pm BST), occurred near an upscale Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow's seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, police said.

The Kommersant daily newspaper cited sources as saying that the bomb had been intended to maim and kill guests at a private event on the terrace.

Russian authorities have increased the death toll of the explosion in Moscow’s Balzi Rossi restaurant to five.

Two people died in hospital following the explosion, Radio Liberty’s Russian Service said according to Ukrainska Pravda, after three deaths had originally been reported by Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee.

Another six people are in a serious condition, it said.

Earlier this year, Russia's Federal Security Service announced that authorities would tighten security around senior military and government officials, after a series of assassination attempts in Russian cities that followed the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

So far, Russian authorities have not drawn any connections between Saturday's blast and these earlier attacks or the war in Ukraine.

Russia previously said Kyiv was behind a car bombing in Moscow last April that killed Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in Russia's General Staff.

Ukraine did not publicly claim responsibility.

But Ukraine's SBU security service earlier said it had organized the killing in December 2024 of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed the Russian military's nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces.

Kirillov was killed by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine's security service leveled criminal charges against him.