Ukrainian drone attacks overnight Saturday into Sunday resulted in at least eight deaths across multiple Russian regions, targeting both civilian and economic sites, regional officials reported. The strikes included a hit on a warehouse operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer.
Russia’s Defence Ministry stated its forces intercepted and destroyed 635 Ukrainian drones during the attacks. Despite the extensive drone campaign, the ministry also announced retaliatory strikes targeting infrastructure and military cargo vessels in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv as well as a vessel carrying military supplies in the Black Sea.
In Russia’s border region of Belgorod, acting governor Alexander Shuvayev confirmed that a Ukrainian drone strike struck near a playground, killing one child and injuring two others. Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, condemned the attack as “another inhumane terrorist act” by Ukraine. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry did not immediately comment on the claims.
Further west, Samara Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported that a Ukrainian drone hit a Wildberries warehouse roughly 800 kilometers from Ukraine’s frontline positions. No casualties were reported in the Samara strike. Since mid-July, Ukrainian forces have increasingly targeted Wildberries locations to disrupt Russia’s consumer economy, with several attacks reported since July 18.
In the Saratov region, a Ukrainian strike on a residential building in the city of Engels resulted in two fatalities, according to Governor Roman Busargin. The attacks also caused damage to civil infrastructure in Engels and Saratov city, both of which have experienced repeated Ukrainian strikes due to their strategic importance—Saratov hosts a major oil refinery while Engels is home to a military airbase. Ukraine’s military confirmed it targeted these military and energy sites, specifically the Saratov refinery and the Engels airbase, causing fires at both. Ukrainian forces also struck an oil depot in the western Kaluga region.
The Udmurtia region suffered three deaths and two injuries from drone strikes, as reported by acting governor Olga Abramova. In Belgorod, local authorities noted three people were killed and five injured following the attacks.
Meanwhile, in southeastern Ukraine, the city of Zaporizhzhia faced Russian-launched glide bomb strikes, which wounded 21 people and caused one fatality, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.
These escalating cross-border attacks reflect Ukraine’s ongoing strategy to hit deeper into Russian territory, targeting economic and military infrastructure in an effort to diminish Russia’s capacity to sustain its military operations in the more than four-year conflict.