Moscow warehouse strike kills five as drone attacks escalate in Russia-Ukraine war

At least five people were killed and ten others injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a warehouse near Moscow late on Tuesday, according to the region's governor. The attack marks another escalation in the long-range drone campaign that has brought the war deeper into Russian territory.

The governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said an industrial site in the village of Novoselki, in the Chekhov district about 69 kilometres south of the Kremlin, was hit, triggering a fire at a warehouse. He added that seven of the ten injured people were in a moderate condition, while one was in a serious condition. The official did not specify what was stored at the facility.

Ukrainian media reported that the site was linked to Wildberries, a major Russian online retailer often described as the "Russian Amazon". Kyiv has carried out a series of strikes on Wildberries-operated facilities in recent weeks, claiming that the warehouses are used to store military supplies for the Russian army. Moscow has denied this. The company has not commented on the Moscow strike but confirmed that its facility in St Petersburg was also hit overnight.

Local officials in the St Petersburg and Tver regions also reported drone attacks targeting Wildberries warehouses. There were no immediate reports of casualties at those sites.

The overnight attacks were not one-sided. Russia launched its own strikes on several parts of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. In the southern port city of Mykolaiv, an 89-year-old woman was killed and seven people were injured, including two girls aged two and twelve. The Ukrainian State Emergency Service said the casualties were caused by a Russian strike. Two people were also injured in the city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, and a food warehouse in Dnipro was set on fire by Russian strikes, the agency added.

Russia's defence ministry said its air defences intercepted and destroyed 320 Ukrainian drones overnight, a figure that cannot be independently verified. Such claims are common in the ongoing conflict, with both sides regularly reporting defensive and offensive operations.

The exchange of strikes underscores the continued intensity of the war, which has entered its third year. Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones to hit targets inside Russia, including oil refineries, military airfields, and logistics hubs. Kyiv says these attacks are aimed at disrupting Russia's military supply chains and its ability to wage war. Russia, in turn, has continued its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, causing civilian casualties and widespread damage.

The Kremlin has consistently denied that its strikes target civilians, while Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of deliberately attacking residential areas. Similarly, Moscow rejects Ukraine's assertions that civilian facilities in Russia are being used for military purposes. Independent verification of the situation on the ground is difficult due to the ongoing conflict and restricted access for international observers.

The incident near Moscow is likely to raise questions about the effectiveness of Russia's air defence systems and the vulnerability of its civilian infrastructure to drone attacks. It also highlights the expanding reach of Ukraine's military capabilities, even as both sides continue to face significant losses on the battlefield.

As the war grinds on, international efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly faltered. The latest strikes serve as a grim reminder that the conflict shows no signs of abating, with civilians on both sides bearing the brunt of the violence. The international community has repeatedly called for restraint and for the protection of civilians, but the exchanges of fire continue unabated.