A drone sparked a fire at another major retailer’s warehouses in Russia on Tuesday as Ukraine ramps up its attacks on key Russian businesses in a bid to bring the war home to Moscow.
Lenta, one of Russia’s largest food retailers, said that a drone fell on its distribution centre in the Leningrad region near St Petersburg, northern Russia, injuring at least one person. The company said that the blaze had since been extinguished.
Earlier today, a warehouse run by Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries in Tver region was reportedly damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack. No workers were injured and emergency services were working at the scene, regional governor Vitaly Korolyov said.
And officials in St Petersburg said on Tuesday that another warehouse was struck and five people were killed. It was unclear who operated the facility.
Wildberries warehouses in Russia have become a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks in recent months. On Tuesday, it was announced that the company would look to build its new warehouses in Kazakhstan early next year as Ukrainian drones target the company's logistics network inside Russia.
Key Points
- Wildberries facility among warehouses hit by Ukraine overnight, Russia says
- Five killed as warehouse catches fire in drone attack on Moscow
- Ukraine's former military chief says country has no chance of joining Nato
- Russia says it destroyed 320 Ukrainian drones overnight
- Iran cancels plans to attack Ukraine after Kyiv apologises
In pictures: Smoke rises after a Ukrainian drone attack on a Wildberries warehouse in Krasny Bor
11:10 , James Reynolds
Watch: Russian strike on Odesa transport facility injures 10 as firefighters battle blaze
11:00 , James Reynolds
Four killed by soldier during rampage in Russian-annexed Crimea
10:47 , James Reynolds
Four people have been killed in Russian-annexed Crimea after a soldier went on a rampage with a gun.
The gunman opened fire on his fellow soldiers, killing one and wounding another, in an apparently random attack, the Moscow-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
He then went on to kill three civilians in Khmelnytske village, and injured three more, the local authorities said.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, has since been detained, the governor said. Authorities are still working on a motive.
It was unclear whether the death toll was expected to rise.
Meet the men who are ‘holidaying’ in a warzone with total strangers
10:28 , James Reynolds
Despite regular Russian airstrikes targeting civilians, volunteers regularly drive to Ukraine to deliver 4x4s loaded with humanitarian aid.
Thomas Horn speaks to men united by a desire to help – a craving for adventure – and finding friendship and brotherhood along the way:
As millions jet off on holiday, meet the men going to a warzone with total strangers
Russian planes fire a salvo of glide bombs at Zaporizhzhia, killing 1 and wounding dozens
10:00 , James Reynolds
Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said Monday.
Russia has used glide bombs to smash Ukrainian towns and cities since it invaded its neighbor more than four years ago. The weapons are Soviet-era bombs retrofitted with guidance systems and can carry up to 3,000 kilograms (6,600 pounds) of explosives, leaving huge craters. Ukraine has no effective countermeasures against them.
The Sunday evening onslaught on Zaporizhzhia killed a 71-year-old woman and wounded 31 people, including a 16-year-old girl, as the bombs damaged 22 apartment buildings in four districts of the city, Fedorov said.
Read the full story:
Russian planes fire a salvo of glide bombs at a southern Ukraine city, killing 1 and wounding dozens
E-commerce giant Wildberries to expand warehouse capacity in Kazakhstan amid Ukrainian strikes in Russia
09:27 , James Reynolds
The Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries is set to construct another 260,000 square metres of warehouse capacity in Kazakshtan in the coming months.
That’s according to Kazakhstan’s trade minister, via Russian news agency TASS.
Wildberries warehouses across Russia have endured repeated strikes from Ukraine in recent months as Kyiv aims to bring the war home to Moscow by targeting its economy.
The new capacity is set to be commissioned in Q1 of next year, according to the trade minister.
The announcement came as Ukrainian drones struck another warehouse run by Wildberries in Russia’s Tver region, according to the acting regional governor.
No workers were injured and emergency services were working at the scene, Vitaly Korolyov said.
Zelensky dismisses Ukraine's ambassador to US
09:00 , Arpan Rai
President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, in a decree published yesterday.
Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year. Her departure had been expected for several weeks.
Her departure coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister.
A reshuffle of Ukraine's diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected.
Stefanishyna, writing on Facebook, said the decision to leave her post was "my own decision, driven by personal circumstances... " and said she had accomplished much during her time in the post.
“We boosted the supply of American weapons and maintained support right when the political climate in Washington was changing and not in our favour,” she wrote.
Russia says Ukrainian drone attack on holiday-makers killed seven
08:40 , Arpan Rai
At least seven people, including three children, were killed and 40 injured at Russia's Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik, in what Moscow claimed was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.
Social media videos, verified by Reuters, showed what appears to be a drone slamming into a busy beach area near the town of Gelendzhik, accompanied by a loud explosion.
It was unclear from the footage whether the drone was intercepted before hitting the beach. Ukraine has not issued a statement on the attack, but its military has repeatedly said it does not deliberately target civilians.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region where Gelendzhik is located, called what had happened a tragedy.
The health ministry said that 21 people, including three children, had been rushed to hospital and that nine people were in a serious condition.
“What happened today was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure,” Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region which includes the resort, said in a statement on Telegram.
A specialist medical disaster team had been dispatched to the scene of the explosion at the holiday village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, part of the wider Gelendzhik resort area, local authorities said.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was cited by the TASS state news agency as accusing Ukraine of resorting to terrorism.
Glide bombs, missiles and drones: Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks killing 12
08:20 , Arpan Rai
At least 12 people were killed in separate attacks in Ukraine and Russia yesterday as the two sides exchanged deadly strikes.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 181 long-range strike drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said air defences jammed and intercepted 163 drones, but 14 caused damage at 13 locations.
Here’s a look at all the attacks spanning 24 hours:
• Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said on Monday..
• Seven people were killed by Ukrainian drone debris in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a small town on Russia’s Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar region, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that 40 others were wounded..
• Three other people were killed and two were wounded in Ukraine's overnight attack on the illegally annexed Crimea, said the peninsula’s Russian-installed head, Sergei Aksyonov but gave no details.
Ukraine's former military chief says country has no chance of joining Nato
07:58 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi has said there is no prospect of the war-hit nation joining Nato.
Speaking at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors yesterday, the decorated former war chief and now ambassador to the UK said that Ukraine in no way met the military standards needed to join the alliance.
“I know Nato really well. For about 12 years I personally worked on making sure we met Nato standards, and every year I heard tales about how we would join Nato any day now,” a news report quoted him as telling the meeting.
“Unfortunately, we will never actually join.”
The former commander-in-chief, who was dismissed from his role after his differences with Volodymyr Zelensky became public, said it was “impossible with the level of development that the armed forces of Ukraine have… to join an organisation guided by World War 2 doctrines”.
Wildberries facility among warehouses hit by Ukraine overnight, Russia says
07:24 , Arpan Rai
A warehouse run by Russian online retailer Wildberries in Russia's Tver region was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack, the acting regional governor said this morning.
No workers were injured and emergency services were working at the scene, Vitaly Korolyov said.
This is the second warehouse facility attacked in the span of few hours in Russia. Earlier, officials in St Petersburg said a warehouse was attacked and five people were killed but they did not mention if it was a Wildberries facility.
Russia says it destroyed 320 Ukrainian drones overnight
07:01 , Arpan Rai
Russian forces have brought down or destroyed 320 Ukrainian drones overnight over 19 different regions, its defence ministry announced this morning.
Russia typically reports only how many drones its air defences say they downed, not how many Ukraine launched, and rarely discloses the full extent of damage unless civilians are killed or civilian sites are hit.
The major attack overnight killed six people and injured nine, as they damaged warehouses near the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, governors said.
Of these, five people were killed in the attack on a warehouse facility and one in the border region of Belgorod.
Iran cancels plans to attack Ukraine after Kyiv apologises
06:49 , Arpan Rai
The Iranian military has cancelled its planned strikes on three sites in Ukraine after an apology from Kyiv, a senior advisor to Iran’s leadership said.
Iran said an attack in the Caspian Sea in late July resulted in an explosion that killed one sailor and injured another.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi had vowed that the Ukrainian attack on an Iranian commercial vessel "cannot go unanswered".
However, Mohsen Rezaei told Iranian state broadcaster PressTV that Tehran had planned to hit back and vowed to avenge an attack on its merchant vessel.
“We were set to strike three sites in Ukraine, but canceled the attack following Ukraine's apology," he said.
Watch: Russian strike on Odesa transport facility injures 10 as firefighters battle blaze
06:31 , Arpan Rai
Russian embassy in Rome blames Ukraine for deadly Italian restaurant bombing in Moscow
06:20 , Arpan Rai
The Russian Embassy in Rome on Monday blamed Ukraine for a deadly weekend bombing at a Moscow restaurant, describing it as an attempt to intimidate the Italian community in Russia.
The embassy said “Kyiv terrorists” wanted to “scare the Italians working in Russia and to show them that they too are in the crosshairs and could become the scoundrels' next victims.”
It was refering to the Saturday night attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant which killed five and injured 19, adding that its Italian chef and his staff were unhurt only thanks to a Russian security guard's “vigilance and selfless dedication to his professional duty.”
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which coordinates various security agencies, initially reported a lower death toll in a statement issued shortly after the attack.
It said the bomb killed three people, including a woman who carried the explosive device into the restaurant, a guard who stopped her, and a guest inside.
It said 21 others were injured when the bomb detonated near the restaurant's entrance. The committee didn’t say who was the target or name the mastermind.
Five killed as warehouse catches fire in drone attack on Moscow
06:03 , Arpan Rai
At least five people were killed and six other injured after Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's Moscow region, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov said in a Telegram post this morning.
A warehouse caught fire which was later extinguished, he said, adding that a private house and a car were also damaged.
Glide bombs, missiles and drones: Russia and Ukraine exchange attacks killing 12
06:00 , Arpan Rai
At least 12 people were killed in separate attacks in Ukraine and Russia yesterday as the two sides exchanged deadly strikes.
Russia attacked Ukraine with 181 long-range strike drones overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Ukrainian air force. It said air defences jammed and intercepted 163 drones, but 14 caused damage at 13 locations.
Here’s a look at all the attacks spanning 24 hours:
• Russian planes dropped eight powerful glide bombs in a span of 90 minutes on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens of others, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said on Monday..
• Seven people were killed by Ukrainian drone debris in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a small town on Russia’s Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar region, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that 40 others were wounded..
• Three other people were killed and two were wounded in Ukraine's overnight attack on the illegally annexed Crimea, said the peninsula’s Russian-installed head, Sergei Aksyonov but gave no details.
Russia says Ukrainian drone attack on holiday-makers killed seven
05:35 , Arpan Rai
At least seven people, including three children, were killed and 40 injured at Russia's Black Sea holiday resort of Gelendzhik, in what Moscow claimed was a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.
Social media videos, verified by Reuters, showed what appears to be a drone slamming into a busy beach area near the town of Gelendzhik, accompanied by a loud explosion.
It was unclear from the footage whether the drone was intercepted before hitting the beach. Ukraine has not issued a statement on the attack, but its military has repeatedly said it does not deliberately target civilians.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region where Gelendzhik is located, called what had happened a tragedy.
The health ministry said that 21 people, including three children, had been rushed to hospital and that nine people were in a serious condition.
“What happened today was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure,” Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia's southern Krasnodar region which includes the resort, said in a statement on Telegram.
A specialist medical disaster team had been dispatched to the scene of the explosion at the holiday village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, part of the wider Gelendzhik resort area, local authorities said.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was cited by the TASS state news agency as accusing Ukraine of resorting to terrorism.
Seven dead after Ukrainian drone strikes popular Russian beach
Zelensky dismisses Ukraine's ambassador to US
05:05 , Arpan Rai
President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, in a decree published yesterday.
Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year. Her departure had been expected for several weeks.
Her departure coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister.
A reshuffle of Ukraine's diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected.
Stefanishyna, writing on Facebook, said the decision to leave her post was "my own decision, driven by personal circumstances... " and said she had accomplished much during her time in the post.
“We boosted the supply of American weapons and maintained support right when the political climate in Washington was changing and not in our favour,” she wrote.
Ukraine's former military chief says country has no chance of joining Nato
04:56 , Arpan Rai
Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi has said there is no prospect of the war-hit nation joining Nato.
Speaking at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors yesterday, the decorated former war chief and now ambassador to the UK said that Ukraine in no way met the military standards needed to join the alliance.
“I know Nato really well. For about 12 years I personally worked on making sure we met Nato standards, and every year I heard tales about how we would join Nato any day now,” a news report quoted him as telling the meeting.
“Unfortunately, we will never actually join.”
The former commander-in-chief, who was dismissed from his role after his differences with Volodymyr Zelensky became public, said it was “impossible with the level of development that the armed forces of Ukraine have… to join an organisation guided by World War 2 doctrines”.
Warehouse facility hit by drones near Russia's St Petersburg, governor says
04:01 , Arpan Rai
A warehouse facility has been hit by drones near Russia's second-biggest city St Petersburg, its regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said this morning.
He mentioned the attack in a post on his Telegram channel but did not provide the name of the facility.
However, locals took to social media to share videos of the attack and said the warehouse belongs to the logistics giant Wildberries being targeted by Ukraine in the war.
Inside the camp in Italy helping Ukraine’s traumatised children
03:00 , Harriette Boucher
The war has upended normal life for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children, with many seeing their homes destroyed. The No Sirens camp, run by Hope for Ukraine, tells Alex Croft that they aim to help restore the joy of childhood that has been lost
Ukraine’s traumatised children in holiday camp dread return to brutal reality of war
Former Ukrainian top commander sees no prospect of Kyiv joining NATO
02:00 , Harriette Boucher
Ukraine's former top military commander said there was no prospect of the country joining NATO, an aspiration entrenched in the constitution.
Valery Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador to Britain, told a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors that Ukraine in no way met the military standards needed to join the alliance, according to media outlet Evropeiska Pravda.
“I know NATO really well. For about 12 years, I personally worked on making sure we met NATO standards, and every year I heard tales about how we would join NATO any day now,” Evropeiska Pravda quoted him as telling the meeting.
“Unfortunately, we will never actually join.”
Zaluzhnyi said it was ‘impossible with the level of development that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have … to join an organisation guided by World War II doctrines”.
Ukraine needed the technology “already in use in NATO member-states, including anti-missile defence, space capabilities etc”.
Russian Embassy in Rome blames Ukraine for deadly Italian restaurant bombing in Moscow
01:00 , Harriette Boucher
The Russian Embassy in Rome on Monday blamed Ukraine for a deadly weekend bombing at a Moscow restaurant, describing it as an attempt to intimidate the Italian community in Russia.
The embassy said “Kyiv terrorists” wanted to “scare the Italians working in Russia and to show them that they too are in the crosshairs and could become the scoundrels' next victims.”
It said the Saturday night attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19, adding that its Italian chef and his staff were unhurt only thanks to a Russian security guard's “vigilance and selfless dedication to his professional duty.”
There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian authorities.
The National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which coordinates various security agencies, initially reported a lower death toll in a statement issued shortly after the attack. It said the bomb killed three people, including a woman who carried the explosive device into the restaurant, a guard who stopped her, and a guest inside. It said 21 others were injured when the bomb detonated near the restaurant's entrance.
Russian Embassy in Rome blames Ukraine for deadly Italian restaurant bombing in Moscow
Zelensky dismisses Ukraine’s ambassador to US
Tuesday 4 August 2026 00:00 , Harriette Boucher
Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Olha Stefanishyna, in a decree published on Monday.
Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year, but her departure had been expected for several weeks.
It coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister. A reshuffle of Ukraine's diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected.
Ukrainian media outlets said she had informed the president of her intention to leave her post last month. The reports referred to long-running investigations into alleged irregularities in her asset declaration.
Stefanishyna, writing on Facebook, said the decision to leave her post was “my own decision, driven by personal circumstances ...” and said she had accomplished much during her time in the post.
“We boosted the supply of American weapons and maintained support right when the political climate in Washington was changing and not in our favour,” she wrote.
Ukraine's Suspilne public broadcaster quoted Stefanishyna last week as telling reporters in Washington that Zelensky had not sought her resignation.
Stefanishyna said on Facebook that she would address other questions about her circumstances that have arisen in the media.
Drone hits Russian beach resort near Putin’s Black Sea palace
Monday 3 August 2026 23:00 , Harriette Boucher
Why Ukraine is targeting Russia’s ‘Amazon’ Wildberries with major strikes
Monday 3 August 2026 22:00 , Daniel Keane
Ukraine has attacked about a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 in a bid to disrupt the operations of the company, a linchpin of the consumer economy that is often described as Russia's answer to Amazon.
Kyiv accused the firm of helping to bolster Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
According to Data Insight analyst Sergei Semko, goods destroyed by strikes on Wildberries warehouses in Moscow and Tambov regions alone were worth up to an estimated $2.9 billion.
Ukrainian officials say that the company's warehouses and transport network is actively involved in storing or transport goods that ultimately support the Russian military, a claim Moscow denies.
Because Kyiv alleges that the company is part of Russia's wartime logistics and economic infrastructure, they insist Wildberries’ infrastructure is a legitimate target.
