Drone crashes into Wildberries center in Tula region: one person injured

Photo: RIA Novosti / Kirill Braga
An unmanned aircraft crashed onto the grounds of a Wildberries sorting center in Russia’s Tula region, sparking a fire. According to preliminary information, one person was injured and there were no fatalities.

Regional Governor Dmitry Milyaev attributed the overnight attack to Ukrainian drones. However, details of the incident, including whether the aircraft directly struck the facility or crashed after being affected by air defenses, have not yet been disclosed.

Fire breaks out at sorting center

According to Milyaev, the unmanned aircraft crashed onto the grounds of the Wildberries sorting center and then caught fire.

Emergency services and firefighting units were dispatched to the scene. Initial footage circulated in open sources showed a large fire at the facility, but its area and the extent of damage to the building have not yet been officially reported.

There is also no clear information yet on whether employees at the center were evacuated, how much damage was caused to goods in the warehouse, or whether logistics operations were suspended.

One person is receiving medical treatment

According to the preliminary information cited by the governor, one person was injured in the incident. The victim is receiving medical care.

It has not been disclosed whether the victim was a center employee, how serious the injuries were, or whether the person was hospitalized.

No fatalities were reported. Emergency services continue inspecting the area and dealing with the aftermath of the fire.

Residential buildings and industrial facilities also damaged

The overnight incident was not limited to the Wildberries center.

According to preliminary information:

— two apartment buildings were damaged in Venyovsky District;
— a production facility was damaged in Novomoskovsky District;
— another industrial facility was damaged in Uzlovsky District.

No information was provided on whether there were additional casualties among residents or company employees. The extent of the damage to the buildings is also expected to be determined after the inspection.

Attacks on Wildberries facilities increase

This is not the first drone incident involving Wildberries’ logistics infrastructure in Russia.

According to Reuters and The Associated Press, more than a dozen warehouses and logistics centers belonging to the company were targeted in various Russian regions from the second half of July through early August. On August 2, a fire also broke out at a Wildberries warehouse in the Samara region after a drone attack, but no one was injured in that incident.

Ukraine has said that some of the logistics facilities are being used to supply the Russian military. Wildberries has denied that its warehouses are used for military purposes.

Details of the incident remain unclear

Several important questions remain unanswered:

— did the drone directly strike the center, or did it crash after being shot down;
— how large an area did the fire cover;
— was the sorting center’s operation suspended;
— were customer orders or sellers’ goods damaged;
— what is the extent of the damage to residential and industrial facilities.

Officials have so far released only preliminary information. The full scale of the incident will become clear after the fire is extinguished and the facilities are inspected. Leave your opinion in the comments and share the article with your acquaintances and friends on Telegram or other social networks!