A Russian drone strike destroyed a Nova Poshta branch in Lutsk, western Ukraine, early on Wednesday, April 1 – the country’s leading private delivery company confirmed the facility’s destruction, noting that all employees were in shelters and remained unharmed.
The strike on Lutsk was part of a massive Russian attack in the pre-dawn on April 1. Ukrainian air defense forces downed 298 of 339 targets launched across the country. Throughout the night, explosions were reported in Kyiv, Khmelnytsky, and Poltava regions, as well as in Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Kryvyi Rih. In Lutsk, in addition to the Nova Poshta branch, the attack hit a warehouse of a retail chain and a residential apartment building, where a fire broke out on a balcony.
Nova Poshta is currently assessing the extent of the damage to the cargo while police and the State Emergency Service (DSNS) specialists work on-site. The company committed on Facebook to compensating customers for all lost or damaged shipments and pledged to contact affected clients shortly.
This is not the first time Russian forces targeted Nova Poshta facilities, as the company has faced a series of systematic strikes on its logistics infrastructure:
- In March, Russian forces hit the company’s hub in Zaporizhzhia
- In January, a Russian missile strike hit a branch in Kharkiv, where 4 employees were killed
- In December last year, a branch in the Odesa region was destroyed by a Russian drone, the value of the damaged parcels is estimated at Hr.2 million ($45,450)
- Last year, the firm was forced to close its last remaining branch in Sviatohirsk, Donetsk region, due to intense shelling and drone “hunting” directed at delivery vehicles near the front line.
Despite the systematic targeting of its facilities, Nova Poshta continues to maintain its national network and expand abroad.