Ukrainian drones launched a large-scale overnight attack on the 24th of July, targeting strategic sites in St. Petersburg and Russia’s Leningrad Region, according to Dialog.UA. The reported targets included a Wildberries warehouse complex and the Utkina Zavod logistics park, which also houses facilities operated by Ozon.
An air raid alert was issued across the Leningrad Region at 1:43 a.m. local time. Shortly afterwards, the first explosions were reported near St. Petersburg as Ukrainian drones struck strategic facilities on the city’s outskirts.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko claimed that Russian air defence systems had shot down 50 Ukrainian drones by 5:16 a.m.
However,
he made no mention of the situation at the Wildberries warehouse complex or the Utkina Zavod logistics park,
both of which were reported to have been targeted during the attack.
Photos and videos widely shared on social media and messaging platforms appear to show that the drone strikes hit a Wildberries warehouse in the Vsevolozhsky District of the Leningrad Region. Other reports suggest the fire may instead have broken out at the company’s warehouse in Shushary, within the municipality of St. Petersburg.
Footage circulating online (warning: contains explicit language) shows large fires sending thick black and grey smoke into the sky above St. Petersburg.
Some social media users also reported that drones struck the Utkina Zavod logistics park, which contains warehouse and production facilities serving Wildberries, Ozon, and several of Russia’s largest retail companies.
The extent of the damage has not yet been independently verified, and Russian authorities have not released official information regarding the reported strikes on the logistics facilities.
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