Aug 26 (Reuters) - A drone attack caused a massive fire that destroyed a warehouse run by Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, officials said early on Wednesday, as Ukraine pushes ahead with its campaign to hurt Moscow’s economy by targeting online retailers.
Two people were wounded in the overnight strike in Russia’s Tambov region, its governor Evgeniy Pervyshov wrote on the MAX messaging app.
The logistics centre was “completely destroyed by fire,” he said. Earlier he said about 100,000 square metres (1.1 million square feet) of the facility was burning, the equivalent of 14 soccer pitches.
Ukraine has been hitting Wildberries facilities since mid-July and broadened its strategy in recent days to include the retailer’s main rival, Ozon.
More than 20 Wildberries and Ozon warehouses have been attacked with at least 1.9 million square metres of warehouse space severely damaged by fire, according to Reuters analysis of satellite imagery.
The pair dominate one of the fastest-growing parts of the Russian economy, which is otherwise close to stagnation after 4-1/2 years of war in Ukraine.
In neighbouring Lipetsk region, a man and a 14-year-old were killed in a fire lit by a falling drone, while a woman was killed in a drone attack in Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, local authorities said on Telegram.
Both Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly denied targeting civilians since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Andrew Heavens)
