Overnight into 16 August, a large wave of Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow and Rostov regions, setting warehouses alight and, according to Russian officials, causing several casualties. It was, by the account of the Moscow regional governor, one of the biggest such attacks in months.

The most visible target was commercial rather than military: a vast logistics warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. What that warehouse allegedly holds — and whether it belongs on a target list at all — is now part of the story.

What happened overnight

Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said a drone strike started a fire at the Wildberries warehouse in the Koledino industrial park near Podolsk, and that all employees had been evacuated without injury. Video from the site showed a large blaze being fought from the air by firefighting helicopters. A second fire broke out at a warehouse in Domodedovo, identified by analysts as the Severnoye Domodedovo logistics center.

Beyond the warehouses, Russian officials reported casualties. Vorobyov said an elderly man was killed when a drone struck a house in the Ramensky district and that several people were injured; in the southern Rostov region, governor Yury Slyusar reported three people killed. These figures come from Russian regional authorities and have not been independently verified.

The numbers, from both sides

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said around 600 drones had flown toward Moscow since the evening of 15 August, of which 201 were destroyed over the region. Russia’s Defence Ministry separately said 822 drones had been shot down across the country overnight, without stating how many had reached their targets. Ukraine’s military did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Such totals are difficult to confirm from the outside, and both governments have reasons to frame them as they do. What is not in dispute is that fires burned at two major logistics sites in the Moscow region on Sunday morning.

Why a shopping warehouse?

The Koledino strike is the latest in a campaign against Wildberries facilities that began in mid-July. Reuters reported in late July that at least seven of the retailer’s warehouses had been damaged within days, and the Associated Press put the figure at more than a dozen by early August. Ukrainian authorities allege that the company’s warehouses are used to store and distribute drone components and other sanctioned goods for the Russian military. Wildberries and the Kremlin have denied any military role.

The same night, Russia struck back into Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih killed at least one person and injured around twenty, and that a book market in Kyiv was destroyed by fire. The exchange was a reminder that, deep into the war, both capitals are now routinely reaching hundreds of kilometres into the other’s territory.

Sources: RFE/RL; Kyiv Independent; CBS News; Ukrainska Pravda; Reuters; Associated Press; statements by Russian regional officials.