‘Russian Amazon’ hit by more massive strikes
Updated ,first published
London: Ukraine has launched new attacks on Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, in a sign of its capability to send explosive drones into enemy territory, amid an uprising in the Ukrainian military following public protests over the war.
Drones arrived at the retailer’s two large warehouses in southern Russia, in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk in eastern Crimea, causing flames to shoot skyward in dramatic explosions captured on video and seen on social media.
The attacks come at a tense time in Ukraine, after some residents gathered on the streets of Kiev to voice their concerns after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired popular defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
Zelensky moved again this week to end disunity in the military by sacking the country’s commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who disagreed with his strategy of inflicting maximum casualties on Russia over concerns about rising deaths among Ukrainian soldiers.
Zelensky chose Mykhailo Drapatyi, 43, to replace Syrskyi, 60, in the biggest change in Ukraine’s military leadership since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
“It is important that all components of our Armed Forces continue to operate in full coordination,” the President said on Wednesday at X (approximately 7.30pm, AEST).
Fedorov was seen as a reformer who favored a “drone first” approach to warfare, relying on innovation and technology to minimize deaths and casualties of Ukrainian volunteers on the front lines, leading to concerns about his sudden dismissal.
Drapatyi’s rise to the top military post was admired by some observers for his vigorous campaigns against Russian forces.
In a video shared widely on social media, Ukrainians hailed Drapatyi as the commander of a tank that penetrated enemy fortifications at Mariupol in 2014, a symbolic moment early in the war against Russian forces.
Drapatii said his plans include new operations behind enemy lines.
“The President of Ukraine has set clear goals for us: to continue and intensify offensive operations in all areas, to plan new operations behind enemy lines, to develop our army and its technologies, and to improve the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said on Facebook.
Wildberries president Tatyana Kim confirmed on Wednesday (Russia time) that warehouses in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk were attacked. Social media images verified by Reuters show a large plume of smoke billowing into the air in Krasnodar.
In another southern city, Armavir, a worker died when drone debris crashed into one of the businesses, local officials said.
Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev said 10 people were injured in an attack on a storage complex. While the debris of unmanned aerial vehicles damaged two high-rise apartment buildings in Krasnodar, no one was injured.
Officials said that a helicopter will be deployed to fight the fire in the warehouse in Krasnodar. More than 100 people were mobilized to fight the fire.
An attack by Ukrainian drones on Saturday killed eight workers, broke out fires and disrupted operations at Wildberries.
“There are no words to describe all the emotions and feelings caused by the attacks on ordinary people, our employees, those of us who are just doing our job,” Kim said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Wildberries started as an online store selling clothes from European catalogues. It has since expanded its product offering and evolved into a marketplace that includes third-party sellers. There was no comment on the extent of the damage.
Separately, according to sources close to the Kremlin, Russia is no longer willing to return some of the territory it occupied to Ukraine as part of any agreement to end the war and plans to keep these areas as a buffer zone.
Russian President Vladimir Putin remains determined to seize full control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region by force and will now keep the Sumy and Kharkiv regions near the Russian border as a buffer zone, said three people who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive issues.
Sources said Putin gave up territorial concessions because Russia saw increasingly confrontational US statements as evidence that informal agreements reached with US President Donald Trump at the Alaska summit have collapsed.
With Reuters and Bloomberg
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
