A series of deadly drone strikes and military attacks occurred across Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, resulting in significant casualties and infrastructure damage. According to officials in both nations, at least nine people were killed in Russia and at least five in Ukraine during the exchange.
In Russia, Ukrainian forces targeted a warehouse belonging to the retail giant Wildberries in the Samara region, located approximately 800km from Ukraine's primary military positions. Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev reported no casualties at the site, noting that crews were working to extinguish a fire caused by the strike. This incident marks one of about a dozen attacks on Wildberries facilities since July 18, as Ukrainian forces seek to disrupt the operations of Russia's largest online retailer.
Casualties were reported in other Russian regions, including the Udmurtia region, where acting governor Olga Abramova stated that three people were killed and two injured in a drone attack. In the border region of Belgorod, a local taskforce reported three deaths and five injuries. Acting regional governor Alexander Shuvayev confirmed that a Ukrainian drone struck an area adjacent to a playground, resulting in the death of one child and injuries to two others. Furthermore, a strike on a residential building in the city of Engels, located in the Saratov region, claimed two lives, according to Governor Roman Busargin. Busargin added that civil infrastructure was damaged in both Engels and the city of Saratov.
Ukraine’s military confirmed it conducted strikes against a Saratov oil refinery and the Engels military airbase, reporting that fires were ignited at both locations. Additionally, forces struck an oil depot in the Kaluga region. Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported that their forces targeted infrastructure and two vessels carrying military cargo in the port of Mykolaiv, alongside a vessel carrying supplies in the Black Sea.
Russian strikes in Ukraine resulted in two deaths in the Dnipropetrovsk region, with at least one person killed in both the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. The mail operator Nova Poshta also reported that a Russian strike destroyed a postal terminal in the Kharkiv region, killing one worker.
Separately, an EU naval mission led by Italy intercepted the Toa Payoh, a tanker from Russia’s “shadow fleet,” west of the island of Pantelleria. The vessel, which was sailing from Benin to Istanbul, is subject to EU sanctions and had recently switched its registry to Cameroon. This operation marks the second such interception in less than two weeks as European authorities increase their scrutiny of vessels suspected of aiding Russia in circumventing oil sanctions.
Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least nine people in Russia on Sunday, with targets again including retail giant Wildberries, while Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least five, according to officials in both countries. Drones attacked a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region, about 800km (500 miles) from Ukr
