A large-scale Ukrainian drone strike hit warehouses of Russia's largest online retailer Wildberries, dubbed the country's answer to Amazon, on Tuesday night. One staff member was killed and several people were injured in the multi-pronged attack.
Strike details
Footage shared on social media shows a cloud of smoke billowing over Krasnodar. The city's regional governor, Veniamin Kondratiev, said 10 people had been hurt after a storage complex was hit, while drone debris also hit and damaged two high-rise apartment buildings.
The company's head, Tatyana Kim, said on Wednesday that warehouses in Nevinnomyssk were also hit. A worker was also killed in Armavir after drone debris fell on a building, local authorities said.
Company response
In a post to the social media platform Telegram, Kim said: 'There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on all of us who are simply doing our jobs.' Wildberries has not officially commented on the attacks.
Economic impact
In a separate strike on Saturday, eight Wildberries workers were killed. The online shop started as a clothing retailer but has since expanded its product range, eventually becoming a marketplace available to third-party vendors. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the sale of goods and services on digital platforms equated to roughly 8.5% of the country's GDP, making the strikes a major threat to Russia's economy.
Other strikes
Blackouts were also reported across occupied Crimea after Ukrainian drones hit two electric substations in Masandra and Yalta.
Ukrainian military changes
The upper rungs of Ukraine's military are facing issues of their own after Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the head of his armed forces. Demonstrations have broken out across the country after defence minister Mykhailo Federov, known for modernising the army, was fired from his post last week. In a post on social media shared on Wednesday, the Ukrainian president said: 'Together with [new commander-in-chief] Mykhailo Drapatyi and [interim defence minister] Yevhenii Khmara, we determined that Major General Ihor Skybiuk will become the new Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is a highly experienced officer who defended Ukraine shoulder to shoulder with the new Commander-in-Chief. It is important that all components of our Armed Forces continue to function in complete coordination.'
