Ukrainian strikes on Russian warehouses kill 8, shroud skies in smoke

Waves of Ukrainian explosive-laden drones on Saturday pounded e-commerce warehouses in the Moscow and Tambov regions, killing eight people and causing large fires that blackened the skies with thick smoke for hours.

Kyiv has in recent months intensified its strikes on Russian territory, disrupting the lives of ordinary Russians -- strikes it calls retribution for more than four years of bombardments against its territory.

The campaign, which Kyiv calls "long-range sanctions", has mostly targeted Russia's oil infrastructure triggering a full-blown fuel crisis in one of the world's biggest oil-producing countries.

This time, Ukraine struck two key warehouses of Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries, killing eight night-shift workers and sparking fires that all but destroyed the facilities.

"A terrible night, terrible events for our company and for our country. It is a pain that cannot be put into words," said Wildberries CEO Tatiana Kim.

An AFP journalist saw thick black smoke rising over the Moscow region Saturday morning, lingering until at least the late afternoon.

"Seven night-shift employees were killed when enemy UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) hit a Wildberries logistics centre," said Evgeny Pervyshov, the governor of the Tambov region, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) southeast of Moscow.

And in the Moscow region -- where an oil depot was struck in addition to another Wildberries warehouse -- one person died in hospital, said regional governor Andrei Vorobyov.

Firefighters were still battling the blaze in the Moscow region's Elektrostal, while the regional authorities in Tambov said the fire there had been extinguished.

In Elektrostal, an empty kindergarten was also hit, but no one was hurt, added Vorobyov.

Almost 90 people were wounded in the attacks on the two regions and taken to hospital, authorities said.

More than 370 drones were launched toward the Moscow region overnight, said the mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin. Between July 11 and 18, almost 1,892 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow were intercepted, he added.

"In response to Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities, two major logistics facilities were hit -- in the Moscow and Tambov regions," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X.

He alleged the centres were used "to supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment".

In Ukraine, Russian strikes killed five people and wounded almost 20 others in regions stretching the country's southeast.

But even as the war continued, in big cities across Ukraine, thousands gathered to protest the removal of popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov for a third day in a row.

Just when Ukraine appeared to be gaining momentum on the battlefield, Zelensky ordered a surprise government reshuffle that included the dismissal of the young, tech-savvy defence minister, triggering rare wartime protests.

Intensifying Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure have disrupted daily life more visibly than at any point in the war, with fuel shortages hitting nearly 90 percent of Russian regions since June.

In recent weeks, lining up at petrol stations has become a staple of life in Russia -- a country where fuel had until now been readily available and far cheaper than in Europe.

Fighting on the front line has largely stalled, with Ukraine appearing to have slowed Russia's summer offensive.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end the conflict remain frozen since Washington has shifted its attention to its war against Iran.