Ukraine-Russia Conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Wednesday that Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia are causing visible damage to infrastructure and the economy, though he insisted the consequences are not critical and do not severely affect economic growth, which he pegged at around 1 percent.

Putin ordered the government to launch a reconstruction programme for warehouses and logistics capacity damaged in the strikes. At least 20 warehouses belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries have been hit since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the deep-strike campaign on June 25, forcing many small vendors to shut down after losing inventory to fires.

The campaign has also struck oil refineries, triggering fuel shortages. Moscow petrol stations have reimposed purchase limits, and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia has begun importing fuel and authorised production of lower-grade standards to meet domestic demand. A temporary fuel export ban was introduced in late July, running through January 2027.

Ukraine's defence ministry said on Sunday it had knocked out seven of Wildberries' ten largest logistics centres, after the latest overnight drone barrage struck the company's 250,000-square-metre warehouse complex in Koledino, near Podolsk in the Moscow region. Wildberries confirmed the attack caused a fire and forced it to reconfigure supply chains, while regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said the blaze had been extinguished. A second warehouse in nearby Domodedovo was also hit the same night, and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said at least 187 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the wider area, where other strikes damaged shops and homes, wounding three people.

Since the campaign opened on the weekend of 18 July with strikes in Elektrostal and the Tambov region, roughly 20 Wildberries sites have been attacked, including facilities in Yekaterinburg, Bashkortostan, the Vladimir region, Penza, Ryazan, St Petersburg and Crimea. Kyiv says the aim is to disrupt military supply chains and apply financial pressure on lenders including VTB and Sberbank, which hold about 13 billion euros in Wildberries debt, against the company's reported annual turnover of 70 to 75 billion euros.

Russian air defences destroyed more than 180 drones over the capital region during a massive overnight barrage that left three people wounded, including a 10-year-old girl, officials said, updating the toll from a weekend assault that had earlier been reported to have killed several people across Russia.

Moscow's mayor said 620 drones were launched toward the capital region during the night, with defences intercepting the majority between Monday evening and early Tuesday. Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed the region faced a large-scale drone attack that caused the injuries.

One drone struck a logistics complex operated by e-commerce giant Wildberries east of Moscow, though the company said the facility sustained only minor damage. The latest figures follow one of the largest aerial exchanges of the war over the weekend, when hundreds of drones and ballistic missiles were traded between Russia and Ukraine.

Russia has constructed at least 10 secret military bases equipped with newly built launch platforms for advanced long-range attack drones near its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, placing multiple NATO capitals within striking distance.

An investigation identified at least 59 launch rails across the sites, with roughly 20 extended to accommodate the latest Russian jet-powered drones. Some facilities were converted from existing military or civilian airfields, while others were built directly in rural areas. Certain bases are already being used to launch intensive strikes against Ukraine, and one site alone has capacity to store more than 1,000 drones simultaneously.

The most capable variants could reach Warsaw, the Baltic states, Romania, and Turkey. European and U.S. intelligence officials believe Moscow is contemplating an armed provocation on Polish soil, with analysts warning of potential false-flag operations.

Six Russian civilians were killed and four wounded, including a 14-year-old, when a Ukrainian missile struck the village of Koloskovo in Belgorod's Valuysky district on Monday, acting regional governor Alexander Shuvayev said. The strike, which targeted a Wildberries logistics site and reportedly employed British-made Nyan jet drones, ignited a building and damaged a vehicle.

Ukraine has disabled seven of Wildberries' ten largest facilities over recent months. In retaliatory strikes, Russian forces hit ports in Odesa and Izmail, damaging a Togo-flagged cargo vessel and, according to Moscow's defence ministry, destroying a Tarantul patrol boat, fuel depots, and naval drone warehouses. A separate Russian drone attack on a Nova Poshta branch in Kramatorsk killed one person and wounded four.

The Russian foreign ministry rejected a Ukrainian proposal, relayed via Turkey, for mutual restraint on Black Sea civilian targeting, as Kyiv offered through a third party to halt strikes on non-military maritime targets.