Warehouses operated by Ozon, Russia’s second-largest online retailer, were affected by overnight drone strikes across several southern regions, the company said, as Ukraine continued attacks on logistics facilities that it describes as supporting Russia’s war effort.
Ozon said fires broke out at logistics centres in Krasnodar, Dagestan, Stavropol and Adygea. It reported that a drone attack at about 05:00 local time on Monday caused a fire at its facility in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
The retailer had earlier said that a major fire was burning at one of its logistics centres in Krasnodar. It also said workers were evacuated from facilities in Adygeysk, in Adygea, and Nevinnomyssk, in Stavropol.
Several people were injured in the overnight attacks, according to Ozon. The company said a separate strike on its site in Russia’s Samara region the previous day had also injured a number of employees.
Casualties and market reaction
Russia’s defence ministry said three children were killed in Krasnodar in a Ukrainian drone attack. Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, said the children were aged 13, 15 and 16, and that six other children had been taken to hospital.
Videos circulated on social media showing the reported attacks were verified by the BBC. One showed a drone striking an Ozon warehouse in the Orenburg region, while another showed smoke and flames rising from the company’s warehouse in Dagestan.
Ozon shares fell by as much as 12% in Monday morning trading on the Moscow Exchange. Shares in AFK Sistema, the private equity company that is Ozon’s major shareholder, fell by almost 13%.
Asked whether the government would support Ozon, the Kremlin said it was working with business representatives on possible support measures during what it called a difficult situation.
Logistics hubs targeted
Ukraine’s defence ministry said after the Samara strike that systematic attacks on storage centres holding dual-use goods complicated Russian logistics and harmed the wider economy. It said Ukrainian units had previously hit 15 major logistics hubs used by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, before turning their attention to Ozon.
Ukraine has said Wildberries is a legitimate target because it supplies military components, an assertion Moscow denies. The Kremlin has also denied that online retail platforms are used for army supplies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Ukraine had opened “Pandora’s box” by attacking economic targets, and said Russia would respond against what he described as Kyiv’s most sensitive economic sectors.
Ozon, founded in 1998, operates as a marketplace that connects sellers and buyers, stores and delivers goods, and handles payments. Alongside Wildberries, it is widely used across Russia, including in remote areas where conventional shops may be less accessible. The companies’ marketplace model means that businesses using the platforms may bear many of the losses caused by attacks on their facilities.
In Ukraine, the head of the Odesa region, Oleg Kiper, said overnight Russian strikes hit food-storage sites and energy infrastructure, injuring five people.
Source: BBC News
