©picture alliance / TheKremlinMoscow-SvenSimon | The Kremlin Moscow
Ukrainian drones struck a warehouse in the region around St. Petersburg on Thursday night into Friday, causing a fire, according to Russian authorities and local media. According to the governor of the Leningrad region, at least fifty drones reached the area, while Russia claims to have shot down a total of 571 drones last night over fifteen regions and the Crimea.
According to various reports, the attack targeted warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retail group. The company stated that two of its logistics sites in the region were temporarily shut down, without confirming whether they were directly hit. Meanwhile, local media and footage from the scene showed a large plume of smoke rising above the affected industrial area.
Largest Russian online retailer supplying parts to the Russian military
Wildberries has been a frequent target of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks. Distribution centers around Moscow and other logistics hubs had already been hit earlier. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously stated that the company stores and ships parts for sanctioned military equipment, which Kyiv says partly explains the attacks. Russia, however, denies that Wildberries transports military goods and describes the attacks as targeting civilian infrastructure.
The “St. Petersburg Gang”
The pressure on St. Petersburg is symbolically sensitive for the Kremlin. The city, originally known as Leningrad and the birthplace of Vladimir Putin, is considered one of the Russian president’s most important centers of power and influence. He began his political career there in the 1990s, forged ties with local power brokers and businesspeople, and turned the city into a springboard for his rise to national prominence.
St. Petersburg: Where Putin built his lifelong power base
St. Petersburg also holds great economic and strategic significance, boasting, among other things, important oil transshipment and logistics infrastructure. At the same time, for Putin, it;s more than just an economic hub: he views the city as a historical symbol, as Peter the Great’s “window to Europe.” Attacks in and around the city therefore target not only logistical hubs but also one of the foundations of Putin’s political prestige.
So far, there have been no reports of fatalities, though according to Reuters, three people were injured. The fire and the drone attacks underscore how Ukraine is increasingly targeting Russian logistics and energy facilities farther from the front lines.
©picture alliance / TheKremlinMoscow-SvenSimon | The Kremlin Moscow