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Drones and Wildberries
Ukraine carried out one of its largest aerial assaults on Russia of the war so far, setting warehouses on fire and killing at least six people, as it launched hundreds of drones across Russia on Sunday.
“setting warehouses on fire and killing at least six people”
The strikes included an attack on a Wildberries warehouse in the town of Podolsk, where Moscow region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said an 83-year-old man was killed after a Ukrainian drone hit a private home and also confirmed a blaze at a Wildberries warehouse.
Russia said it destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones overnight, and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian capital, with a third of those destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
In Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih killed two people and wounded 14 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media, and ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih confirmed one of its sites had been hit and that operations had been partially suspended.
Officials trade accusations
Ukraine’s campaign to bring the war home to the Russian public was paired with Russian claims of countermeasures, with Sobyanin saying 600 drones were detected headed toward Moscow and that a third of those were destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
In Kyiv, Zelenskyy framed the broader pattern of strikes as civilian infrastructure targeting, saying, "Wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they strike civilian infrastructure," while Russia’s Ministry of Defence said it had targeted a metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih and several military-industrial sites in Kyiv.
The BBC reported that Russia said at least seven people were killed in what officials called the "largest-scale" attack launched by Ukraine this year, and it said a warehouse belonging to Russian online retailer Wildberries was hit.
The BBC also quoted a market stall owner in Kyiv’s Pochayna district, where a book market was damaged, saying, "All these books in the street were from my husband's stall in the market - I recognise them on the floor."
What comes next
The attacks were described as part of a wider shift toward long-range strikes, with ABC News & Headlines saying Kyiv stepped up its attacks on Russia this year with long-range missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries and energy facilities.
“Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range missiles”
ABC News & Headlines also reported that Zelenskyy said Kyiv used domestically produced Flamingo missiles to attack a rocket research and production centre in Samara, approximately 900 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, while Russia said it targeted a manufacturing facility for Ukraine's Flamingo missiles in Kyiv.
In Romania, Romania's Ministry of National Defence said a Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 fighter jet shot down a drone that entered Romanian airspace, with the ministry saying the drone was detected at 4:44am local time about 24 kilometres north of Galati and that the F-18 shot it down at 05:01.
As the aerial exchanges continued, the BBC said Russia launched more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles over 13 regions this week, while it noted that Ukraine’s home-made drones were responsible for attacks deep into Russian territory.
