In the Tula Region, on the night of 4 August, the Wildberries logistics centre near Aleksin caught fire following a drone attack. Governor Dmitry Milyaev reported that a drone had crashed on the premises of the sorting centre and that one person had been injured. The company confirmed the strike, evacuated staff and is rerouting deliveries via other facilities.
Briefly about the main points
- Following a night-time attack, the Wildberries centre near Aleksin caught fire.
- Local authorities have reported one person injured.
- The first videos of the fire appeared on social media at around 03:30.
- The centre supplied the central regions and relieved pressure on the Moscow region.
- Reuters had previously confirmed attacks on more than a dozen of the company’s hubs.
Explosions during the night and a fire on the centre’s premises
Residents of Aleksin reported a series of explosions during the night, and at around 03:30, footage of the complex engulfed in flames began to circulate on social media. Huge plumes of thick black smoke rose above the warehouse complex.
According to the governor of the Tula Region, the drone crashed onto the grounds of the sorting centre. Footage from the scene shows that the fire has spread to a significant part of the complex’s buildings.
The centre near Petrushin was one of the distribution hubs for the central regions
The logistics complex is situated near the village of Petrushino in the Aleksinsky Urban District. It served the central regions of Russia and was intended to ease the burden on Wildberries warehouses in the Moscow region.
Estimates of the facility’s size vary. Telegram channels cite an area of around 194,500 square metres, whilst regional Russian media, in their reports on the complex’s opening, estimated it at approximately 300,000 square metres. In 2021, Wildberries announced that it planned to build a distribution centre here with a total area of 300,000 square metres.
The night-time attack also affected other parts of the region
Milyayev also reported damage to two industrial facilities in Novomoskovsk and the Uzlovsky District. In the Venevsky district, he said, debris had damaged two blocks of flats. The Russian authorities reported the alleged destruction of 107 drones; there is no independent confirmation of this figure.
From mid-July, the warehouses Wildberries Several regions of Russia have been repeatedly targeted. Ukrmedia has confirmed attacks on more than a dozen of the company’s logistics centres. The Ukrainian side has not officially commented on the strike in the Tula Region.
