Ukraine struck targets in several parts of Russia early on July 24, including another warehouse of Russian e-commerce retailer Wildberries, as Kyiv continues to expand its retaliatory long-range strike campaign in an effort to force Moscow into negotiations.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the strike on a Wildberries facility in the St. Petersburg area, claiming it provided components used in the production of drones and other military equipment.He added that Ukraine's so-called long-range sanctions -- a phrase Kyiv has been using to describe a wave of strikes it has launched deep into Russian territory -- also hit "one of the key military enterprises" in the Russian city of Kirov, which Zelenskyy said supplies components for aircraft and missile systems that "are used, in particular, in the massive attacks against our cities and communities."
Wildberries, which Ukraine claims sells dual-usage goods that the military uses in the war, has been the target of several attacks over the past week, with Ukrainian drones also targeting its facilities in the Moscow and Tambov regions. Those hits left eight workers dead.Often referred to as Russia's equivalent of Amazon, Wildberries started as an online retailer of apparel from European catalogs. Since then, it has expanded into a marketplace featuring a wide range of products sold by third-party vendors.The company says that during regular business operations, it processes some 20 million orders daily. Its co-founder, Tatyana Kim, is considered Russia's wealthiest woman with a net worth estimated at $7 billion by Forbes.The developments come as Kyiv steps up its deep strikes on energy and military infrastructure inside Russia, attacking facilities more than 1,000 kilometers from its border.
