MOSCOW, July 18, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A Ukrainian drone attack on two logistics 
centres in Russia killed eight people and injured 24, officials said on 
Saturday, when the Moscow region reported a new wave of drone strikes.

Ukraine has been attacking a range of targets in Russia, which Kyiv says is 
fair retribution for Moscow's more than four years of strikes against its 
territory.

"Seven night-shift employees were killed when enemy UAVs hit a Wildberries 
logistics centre," said the governor of Tambov region, Evgeny Pervyshov.

"According to preliminary information, 24 people were injured" in the attack 
in the town of Kotovsk, he added.

Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries said its logistics complexes in Kotovsk 
and Elektrostal, in the Tambov and Moscow regions respectively, came under 
attack.

"The fire that broke out at the facility in Tambov region has been 
contained," the company said.

Firefighters were still in action at Elektrostal, it added.

One person was killed and 37 were injured at the Elektrostal warehouse, 
according to the region's governor, Andrei Vorobyov.

A fire also broke out "at an oil depot in Noginsk", Vorobyov said. Two people 
were injured and a nearby maternity hospital was evacuated "for safety 
reasons".

An AFP journalist observed thick black smoke rising into the sky above the 
town on Saturday morning, as well as several fire engines heading there from 
Moscow.

More than 370 drones were launched toward the Moscow region overnight, the 
mayor of the Russian capital, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Saturday.

"Most were neutralised by air defence forces at distant approaches. Sixty 
four enemy UAVs were destroyed on approach to Moscow," Sobyanin wrote on the 
state-backed MAX platform.

Ukraine is increasingly striking Russian cities far from the border in 
retaliation for Moscow's daily attacks.

"Two major logistics facilities were hit in the Moscow and Tambov regions, 
more than 500 and nearly 700 kilometres (300 and 430 miles) from the front 
line," 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 left one person dead and 13 injured.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end the fighting have stalled in recent months, 
as Washington has shifted focus to its war against Iran.