Ukraine, in recent weeks, has been striking both warehouses belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries, as well as Russia’s oil infrastructure.
On Wednesday, it hit both.
Putin Back in 2023. Image Credit: Russian Federation
Putin in June 2021 Russian State Media Photo
According to United 24 Media, a pair of strikes were carried out using Ukrainian FP-1 long-range drones: A Wildberries logistics hub, known as the Kotovsk complex, in Russia’s Tambov region, and the LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo, in Nizhny Novgorod, which is Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery.
Exilenova published videos of both the Wildberries explosion and the refinery explosion.
The Associated Press had more, noting that the warehouse in the Tambov region had been struck before, including a July 18 attack in which seven people were killed.
A subsequent story by United 24 Media, which cited the Russian outlet Agentstvo, noted that Ukraine has now taken out eight of Wildberries’ ten major warehouses, wiping out 81 percent of the company’s combined space. Two others, in Yekaterinburg and Tatarstan, continue to operate, although Ukraine has targeted them.
The complex, the report said, was “either completely or almost completely destroyed by fire.”
Ukrinform had more on the oil refinery attack, noting that the facility is “involved in meeting the needs of the Russian Armed Forces.”
“It is one of Russia’s largest oil refineries and is part of the Lukoil group. The facility has an annual crude oil processing capacity of approximately 17 million tons,” the report said. “The refinery produces motor gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, sulfur and other petroleum products.”
Zelensky Praises Strikes
In a social media post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the attacks, again calling them“long-range sanctions.”
“Over the past day, our warriors imposed sanctions on 16 targets in Russia. In particular, there were long-range responses against oil facilities – Russia’s oil wallet that finances the war,” the Ukrainian leader said on social media.
“They also struck airfields, a missile unit, and infrastructure that is constantly used to launch attacks against Ukraine. Our sanctions also hit a military enterprise and Russian logistics.”
Zelensky added that “the war must return to where it came from,” and pointed to the attacks “justly reducing Russia’s capacity for aggression.”
Will the recent attacks hurt Russia’s resolve? One allied leader believes so.
Help From Finland
Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president, at Monday’s Kyiv meeting of the “coalition of the willing” nations supporting Ukraine’s cause, praised the strategy of attacks deep in Russia, even hoping they could force Russia to the table.
“When we were sitting here for the independence, the 34th Independence Day of Ukraine a year ago, the situation was much more difficult for Ukraine, militarily, politically, and financially,” Stubb said in a Monday press conference, per the Kyiv Post. “I think today we are in a much better place than we were.”
The comments came as Finland announced new aid to Ukraine, which the president said comes from seven Finnish defense companies.
“We are trying to coordinate our efforts to find ways to help Ukraine — whether it is air defense, drones, or other forms of cooperation,” Stubb said in Kyiv. He tied that aid, he said, to Kyiv’s ability to strike deeper into Russia.
“So if your question is, do I think this is sensible military strategy from Ukraine, my answer is yes, it certainly is.”
Finland, which joined NATO in 2023, shares a border of more than 800 miles with Russia. And its leader’s remarks did not go over well at the Kremlin.
According to Reuters, a Kremlin spokesman ripped Stubb for the remarks and accused him and Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, who was also in Kyiv Monday to announce new aid, as part of “the party of war.”
“This evokes no other reaction apart from surprise given that just a few weeks earlier the Finnish President had spoken of the need to normalize relations with Russia sooner or later. But now we see that escalatory rhetoric has prevailed after all,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call the following day.
Peskov added that the Western leaders were deceiving their own voters by “claiming that it is possible to defeat Russia – it’s a huge deception – and they appear to be refusing to heed the realities on the ground.”
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
