Reuters. Eyewitness video caught the moment of an explosion at a warehouse of Russian top retailer Wildberries in Penza after a Ukrainian drone attack on Thursday (July 30).
Reuters was able to confirm the location from building, light, poles, fence and facilities that matched archive file and satellite images. Date verified by official reports as Regional Governor Oleg Melnichenko said in a Telegram post that a warehouse of Russian online retailer Wildberries in Penza caught fire following Ukraine's drone attack. NASA FIRMS detected thermal activities in the location in the early hours of July 30.
One person was injured and about 200 people were evacuated from the site, Melnichenko added, just a day after the company, which has become a frequent target of Ukraine's attacks, evacuated another facility in central Russia.
Wildberries has redirected its supply chains after the Penza attack, it said on Telegram.
Its losses pile on the pain for ordinary Russians, some of whom made online sales their main source of income, as Ukraine continues hitting energy facilities and refineries, deepening the fuel crisis in the world's largest country by area.
Drone strikes have damaged nearly a dozen Wildberries warehouses recently, destroying about 10% of storage capacity and inflicting losses on tens of thousands of small businesses using the platform, the company and local authorities say.
Russia's biggest bank, Sberbank, has warned it may have to boost loan-loss provisions as attacks on Wildberries hit the finances of online retailers and their suppliers.
Reuters could not independently verify all the reports. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war following Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
