Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv’s forces hit Wildberries again amid deadly trade of strikes with Russia

What Happened

Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least nine people in Russia on Sunday, with targets including a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, according to regional officials. Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported the Samara attack caused a fire but no casualties; Ukrainian forces have struck about a dozen Wildberries sites since 18 July 2024 to disrupt the retailer's operations. Three people died in a drone strike in Udmurtia, according to acting governor Olga Abramova, and three were killed in Belgorod, including one child, with five injured, the local taskforce and acting governor Alexander Shuvayev said. Ukraine's military claimed responsibility for strikes on the Saratov oil refinery and Engels military airbase, where governor Roman Busargin said two civilians were killed in a residential building. Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces struck military infrastructure and vessels in the port of Mykolaiv and a ship in the Black Sea. In Ukraine, Russian attacks killed two in Dnipropetrovsk, and at least one each in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to regional authorities; a Nova Poshta postal terminal was destroyed in Kharkiv, killing a worker. Separately, an EU naval mission led by Italy boarded the tanker Toa Payoh, subject to EU sanctions, southwest of Sicily, intensifying scrutiny of Russia's shadow fleet.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The repeated targeting of Wildberries underscores Ukraine's campaign to erode Russia's consumer economy and logistics far beyond the front lines, combining long-range strike capability with economic warfare. The reciprocal civilian deaths highlight the persistent human toll of the attritional conflict. The EU's boarding of a shadow fleet tanker signals stronger enforcement of oil sanctions, potentially tightening economic pressure on Moscow.

Watch For

Further Ukrainian strikes on Russian economic infrastructure beyond Wildberries; Russian retaliatory attacks on Ukrainian logistics or urban centres; EU expansion of maritime interdiction operations against suspected shadow fleet vessels; any formal diplomatic or sanctions-related responses to the boarding incident.