Seven workers were killed in an overnight strike on an online retailer’s logistics center in Russia’s Tambov Region
Published 18 Jul, 2026 03:23
| Updated 18 Jul, 2026 12:56
Doctors continue treating 22 people injured in the Ukrainian drone attack, including seven who remain in serious condition.
Ukrainian drones deliberately targeted civilians during a deadly overnight strike on a warehouse in Russia’s Tambov Region, one survivor has told Russian media, saying workers were prevented from escaping the building.
Seven people were killed and another 25 injured in the attack on the logistics center operated by online retailer Wildberries, according to local officials.
Staff began evacuating after the first strikes landed near the building, the survivor, who asked not to be identified, said. According to his account, workers tried to escape through an emergency exit but were forced back inside because the drones were striking the area around it. As they retreated into the warehouse, another drone hit the building. The blast blew out all the doors and windows, and everyone nearby was injured, he said.
The eyewitness account was recorded from a hospital bed in Tambov on Saturday after doctors operated on the injured.
The drones had been fitted with shrapnel to maximize casualties, Tambov Region Governor Evgeny Pervyshov said, describing the strike as a premeditated terrorist attack.
Doctors removed metal ball bearings from several of the wounded during surgery.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said she had sent appeals to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the UN secretary-general’s special representative, Vanessa Frazier, over what she described as a new wave of terrorist attacks by the Ukrainian military on Russian regions.
Another Wildberries logistics center was also attacked overnight in Elektrostal, around 50 km east of Moscow, the company said. Fire crews and emergency services worked at the site after employees were evacuated. Twenty-four people were injured, according to Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov.
The attack was part of a larger Ukrainian drone raid on Moscow Region. A drone crashed on the grounds of an oil depot in Noginsk, an industrial city around 35 km east of Moscow, causing a fire. As a precaution, the authorities evacuated a nearby maternity hospital, transferring all patients and staff to other medical facilities. An apartment block in the city was also evacuated. Two people have been injured, the governor said.
Another massive drone raid was launched toward Moscow. More than 370 UAVs flew in the direction of the Russian capital since 8:30 PM on Friday, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said. Most were neutralized by Russian air defenses at long range, while 64 were destroyed on approach to the capital, he added.
In neighboring Vladimir Region, one drone struck an apartment in a residential building in the city of Vladimir and sparked a fire, Governor Aleksandr Avdeev said. People were evacuated while emergency services extinguished the flames.
The latest barrage follows another large-scale attack on Thursday, when more than 200 drones were launched toward Moscow, most of which were also intercepted far from the capital.
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Russia has described the strikes as indiscriminate terrorist attacks intended to divert attention away from Ukraine’s setbacks on the battlefield and has responded with a renewed campaign of long-range strikes targeting dual-use and military-industrial sites.
Most of the Russian strikes have focused on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with military plants, drone assembly and storage facilities, and weapons stockpiles targeted in recent weeks.
