New video has captured the moment a massive blaze tore through a warehouse near Moscow dubbed Russia’s answer to Amazon, following what was reported as a Ukrainian drone strike.
The fire erupted before dawn at the Wildberries online marketplace site in Koledino, around 25 miles south of the Kremlin, sending flames and smoke billowing from the sprawling complex.
Wildberries is Russia’s biggest online retailer, but Ukraine has claimed the company’s facilities are also used to store and accommodate military equipment for Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the capital had come under assault from at least 600 drones overnight, while Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed 822 Ukrainian drones were destroyed across the country during the same period.
At least six people are understood to have died in the wave of attacks. In the Moscow region, an 83-year-old man was killed when a Ukrainian drone struck a private home.
A further five deaths were reported in Russia’s southwestern Rostov region, where three towns were targeted in the overnight strikes.
The attacks came as reports last night claimed British-made drones had been used to hit targets on the Russian mainland for the first time.
The drones, produced by two UK companies, were supplied to Ukraine and deployed by its forces as part of Kyiv’s long-range strike campaign.
Separately, NATO scrambled a fighter jet and shot down a drone that flew into Romania in the early hours of this morning. Two Spanish F-18 planes were deployed after the unmanned aircraft was detected entering the national airspace around 14 miles north of Galați.
Smoke billows from the burning Wildberries warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia
The Wildberries logistics hub, 25 miles south of the Kremlin, after a Ukrainian drone attack
Footage shows how the fire engulfed the huge warehouse near Moscow after the attack
Romanian defence minister, Radu Miruță, said: ‘At 5.01am, the drone was intercepted and destroyed between the localities of Băleni and Cudalbi, in Galați county, in an unpopulated area.
‘Romania defends its airspace, and our allies are with us.’
This appears to be the latest of a succession of incursions by Russian drones into NATO states, and came amid a concerted attack on the Odesa region, close to the border with Romania.
But there are suspicions that Putin is deliberately testing NATO responses, using attacks on southern Ukraine as cover.
The swarm of Ukrainian drones in the Moscow region led to flight chaos, with journeys suspended at the capital’s Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports.
The huge flames and thick black smoke at the Wildberries hub – covering 2.7 million square feet – represents a major psychological blow to Putin.
The Wildberries online shopping giant – the largest in Russia – is partly owned by senior officials in Putin’s Kremlin power structure, yet Moscow’s air defences have failed to protect it, according to reports.
After dozens of recent attacks on Wildberries, which supplies Putin’s military machine, the impact is being felt in the Russian economy – with the latest catastrophic blaze set to impact the city’s supply chain.
A second warehouse complex, North Domodedovo, was engulfed in flames this morning, close to one of Moscow’s main international airports.
British-made drones used by Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory include the Nyan – a jet-powered, carbon-fibre attack drone (pictured)
Ukrainian rescuers use a water hose as they work to extinguish a fire at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv this morning
A Ukrainian rescuer works at the site of a Russian strike in Kyiv in the early hours of this morning
A thick plume of smoke rises into the air after Wildberries was hit in a Ukrainian attack
Governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, said the onslaught ends ‘one of the most massive drone attacks in recent times’.
Meanwhile, Russia used North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles to attack Ukraine overnight.
Kyiv was hit, as was Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city, Kryvyi Rih, in major Russian strikes.
In Kyiv, a fire was reported at a market in the Obolonskyi district, with fires in several districts in the city.
Putin’s forces claimed to have hit the largest mining and metallurgical enterprise in Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, as well as the Kryvyi Rih Cement plant along with storage facilities.
The Kremenchuk oil refinery, the largest in Ukraine, was attacked.
British-made drones used by Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory include the Nyan – a jet-powered, carbon-fibre attack drone developed by Wiltshire-based Callen-Lenz, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, The Sunday Times first reported.
The aircraft has a wingspan of more than 9ft and a reported range of more than 150 miles.
It was reportedly used against Belgorod last year and has since formed part of Ukraine’s expanding deep-strike campaign.
Ukraine has deployed a second unidentified British-made drone, launched by catapult and capable of travelling more than 600 miles.
British systems have reportedly participated in operations targeting Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure during the past six months.
The disclosure over the use of British drones follows Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow missiles in the war, but stocks of these are limited and costs high compared with unmanned planes.
There is no evidence British drones were used in today’s Ukrainian onslaught on Russia.
Ukraine also launched a ‘massive’ attack on Russia on Friday night and into Saturday morning, targeting a key rocket and space plant that are used in the development of Putin’s Starlink-style satellite internet network.
The strike deployed by Kyiv targeted the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, south-western Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A motive behind the attack may have been to disrupt launches of Rassvet satellites – Russia’s answer to Elon Musk’s Starlink system, which allows Ukraine a secure satellite connection to communicate and operate drones.
With Russian forces banned from using Starlink, Putin is fast-tracking the development of Rassvet satellites to provide rapid and secure internet connections to control long-range drones and transmit targeting information during attacks on Ukraine.
