Ukrainian drones hit "drone university" and Wildberries warehouse

Ukrainian drones attacked a facility linked to drone development in Russia's Belgorod region, and later early Monday struck another logistics warehouse belonging to Wildberries. This brings the total number of affected sites of the online retail network to at least "18" in just over two weeks. The overnight strikes followed a series of attacks on Sunday that claimed the lives of at least eight people in various Russian regions, according to data from regional governors.

In the early hours of August 3, drones hit the Belgorod State Technological University, sparking a fire in a building used – according to local residents and Russian media – for the development and testing of drones. The facility burned down completely, reported the Telegram channel "Pepel" and the Russian outlet Astra.

According to The Moscow Times, the university had been working on an automated drone control system based on the Russian "Milandr" microprocessor. Representatives of the higher education institution had previously described the technology as civilian, intended for power line monitoring and aerial photography. Shortly before the incident, the university had even announced summer courses on drone development for students.

Russian authorities have not officially confirmed the strike on the facility.

Separately, it became clear that drones had attacked a Wildberries logistics center in the Vladimir region. The region's governor, Alexander Avdeev, confirmed the incident on Telegram. The company stated that one employee was injured and logistics operations were redirected through other sites.

The warehouse, covering an area of "58,500" square meters, was opened in December 2024 and serves as a distribution hub for Moscow and central Russia. The strike followed an attack on a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region on August 2, described by the commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, as a strike against the company's main logistics corridor connecting the European part of Russia with Siberia.

According to data from the Russian outlet "Agentstvo", cited by the Kyiv Post, Ukrainian forces have attacked at least "18" Wildberries facilities since July 18, damaging warehouses with a total area of about "one million" square meters – approximately "38 percent" of the company's largest logistics hubs. If attempted strikes are also taken into account, the affected sites represent about "60 percent" of the retailer's entire large warehouse space.

The attacks are part of Ukraine's expanding efforts to hit economic and energy targets deep within Russian territory. On Sunday, the Ukrainian military confirmed a strike on an oil refinery in Saratov and an airbase for strategic bombers in Engels, where fires broke out at both locations. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that "635" Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight, without specifying how many were sent in total and how many reached their targets.

The banking division of Wildberries was included in the EU sanctions list in July due to its financial contribution to the Russian state budget, and the company's founder, Tatyana Kim, informed customers on July 31 that the damage from the strikes constitutes force majeure and will not be compensated.