A Wildberries logistics hub in Russia’s Tambov region burns after Ukrainian strikes, August 26, 2026
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UPDATE 1419 GMT:
At least four civilians were murdered and at least 95 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.
In Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces launched a double-tap attack on rescue workers dealing with the aftermath of a strike on a nine-story residential block.
An ambulance was damaged but no personnel were injured. However, 26 people were wounded during the day and 37 high-rise buildings, three educational institutions, and one infrastructure facility were damaged.
Elsewhere in Donetsk, one person was killed and eight injured.
In the Chernihiv region in the north, a 39-year-old mother and her four-year-old daughter were murdered and 14 injured in 28 attacks.
In the Kherson region in the south, one person was slain and 12 injured.
Casualties were also reported in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
UPDATE 1351 GMT:
Ukraine’s State security service SBU says its prevented a Russian plot to assassinate the head of a defense company in Kyiv.
The suspected assassin is a 63-year-old pensioner who moved to Kyiv from the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. The SBU says he was tasked with placing explosives under the driver’s seat of the intended victim’s car.
The security service said the suspect acted on instructions from Russian handlers. He assembled and attached the explosives and placed a camouflaged mobile phone nearby so Russian handlers coud use the live feed for the detonation.
The suspect then traveled by coach to Poland, intending to flee from there to Russia. He was arrested by Polish authorities.
In Slovakia, police detained three foreign nationals over an alleged plot to set fire to the Ukrainian-owned Skyeton factory, which produces advanced surveillance drones.
A company representative said:
The Russians regularly attempt to attack both our production facilities in Ukraine and our reputation. The recent attempted attack on our facility in Slovakia is further proof that Ukrainian defense manufacturers have become a real thorn in their side, and that we are on the right path.
Two suspects were detained in Slovakia, while a third was arrested in Germany under a European arrest warrant. Police seized an incendiary mixture of gasoline and polystyrene — a homemade form of napalm — along with tools, cell phones, an action camera, and a hand-drawn map of the facility they allegedly planned to set on fire.
UPDATE 0637 GMT:
Monitoring channels report Ukrainian strikes overnight on Russia’s Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery, in the city of Kstovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The refinery is the largest of Lukoil. It is fourth in capacity in Russia and second in gasoline production, refining around 15 million tons of oil per year and producing 5 million tons of gasoline.
The strikes are the fifth on the refinery this year and the first since July 2.
UPDATE 0633 GMT:
A mother and her 4-year-old child were murdered by a Russian drone attack on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine on Wednesday morning.
A 14-year-old teenager was injured.
UPDATE 0630 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 134 of 162 drones launched by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 18 locations.
UPDATE 0621 GMT:
Analysts assess that CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia on Tuesday was prompted by intelligence that Moscow is preparing for mass mobilization.
The officials said the Russians were also planning to test NATO’s resolve with operations across Europe.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin did not meet with Ratcliffe, who pursued “contacts between intelligence agencies”.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine has renewed strikes on Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, setting a major logistics hub ablaze.
The attack was on Kotovsk in the Tambov region, around 360 km (220 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov acknowledged the Wildberries facility was hit during “a massive drone attack”. The fire covered more than 100,000 square meters. The Governor said one person was injured. He advised residents to close windows and stay indoors for two days to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Kotovsk hub was also struck in the initial days of the Ukraine campaign, which began July 16.
The attacks have inflicted billions of dollars of damage on Wildberries and the stocks of businesses using it. Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim has appealed to the Kremlin for assistance while saying businesses must seek compensation from the Russian Government.
Wednesday’s strike was the first on a Wildberries site since August 16. In the past week, Ukraine has launched initial attacks on the warehouses and logistic centers of Okon, the second-largest online retailer in Russia.
