Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouses near Moscow, killing 1, injuring 61
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- Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouses in Elektrostal and an oil depot in Noginsk almost simultaneously, killing one person and injuring 61 (nine in serious condition, 31 in moderate), with most patients treated for shrapnel and blast injuries, traumatic brain injuries, fractures, burns, and smoke inhalation.
- The resulting fire sent smoke stretching an estimated 175 kilometers across the Moscow region — visible from an airplane — drawing a steady stream of ambulances and Emergency Situations Ministry vehicles through the city as temperatures sat near 27°C (81°F).
- Wildberries faces preliminary damage exceeding 50 billion rubles, with up to 15 percent of all the marketplace's warehouse space affected across the two logistics centers; merchants told Meduza they've lost millions of rubles and are unsure whether the company will compensate them.
- Governor Andrei Vorobyov reported that drone debris damaged an Elektrostal kindergarten roughly two kilometers from the burning warehouses, though no one there was hurt; a nearby apartment building had a shattered balcony window but no soot, drawing confused residents and a shouted argument between neighbors.
- Current and former Wildberries workers, some in the marketplace's signature purple T-shirts, walked up to the checkpoint-gated complex to ask rescue workers about retrieving personal belongings and cars parked on-site — several already melted or buried under twisted cladding — and told the Bereg correspondent their next stop may be rival Ozon, whose nearest sorting center sits 17 kilometers away in Obukhovo.
- Elektrostal residents circulated a rumor that "several hundred" or even 500 people had died — blaming the company for "locking everyone inside" after the strike — even as official tallies stood at one confirmed fatality, underscoring how wartime information environments can outrun the facts.
Why it matters: A single overnight drone strike may have wiped out up to 15 percent of Russia's largest online marketplace's warehouse footprint and over 50 billion rubles in damages, while merchants who've lost millions and current workers fearing job losses now openly question whether Wildberries — and the Moscow regional government — will make them whole. The attack exposes how exposed civilian logistics hubs near Moscow remain to a conflict that has now stretched past the four-and-a-half-year mark.
