Wildberries Warehouses Burn Near St. Petersburg, Flamingo Missile Reportedly Hits Defense Plant

Ukrainian drones attacked St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region early on Friday with Russian authorities reporting strikes on civilian and logistics facilities.

St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said a drone struck a “civilian infrastructure facility” in the city. Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported that a Wildberries warehouse in the village of Novosaratovka caught fire after being hit, leaving three people injured.

According to Drozdenko, another drone struck a warehouse at the Severnaya Poultry Farm in Sinyavino, Kirovsky District. No casualties were reported there.

Russian outlet Astra, citing OSINT analysis, identified the burning building in Novosaratovka as the Wildberries logistics center at Utkina Zavod.

The outlet later said at least three separate buildings were on fire in the industrial zone: the Wildberries warehouse, an unidentified warehouse, and a Petrovich distribution center.

Astra also reported that a second Wildberries logistics center in Shushary, south of St. Petersburg, was struck. Employees told the outlet that the facility had been fully evacuated before the fire.

According to the Ukrainian monitoring Telegram channel Exilenova+, drones also struck a Wildberries warehouse in occupied Simferopol overnight.

Wildberries later confirmed attacks on its infrastructure, saying it had temporarily suspended operations at its logistics centers in Shushary and Utkina Zavod and evacuated its sorting center in occupied Simferopol.

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The overnight attacks also disrupted operations at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, where Russian media reported about 50 delayed flights, while another 15 aircraft were diverted to alternate airports.

Meanwhile, residents in Russia’s Tver region reported explosions and a large fire. OSINT communities speculated that a Wildberries freight train may have been hit, although that information remains unconfirmed and local authorities have not commented.

The latest strikes follow a series of recent attacks targeting the company’s logistics network. On July 23, drones hit a Wildberries distribution center in Russia’s Voronezh region, where local authorities acknowledged damage to a warehouse roof.

Russian media also reported an attempted strike on a Wildberries warehouse in Kazan that was reportedly intercepted by air defenses.

According to estimates cited by Kommersant, previous Ukrainian strikes have already disabled roughly 8% of Wildberries’ warehouse capacity after damaging facilities in Elektrostal, Kotovsk, Krasnodar, and Nevinnomyssk.

Industry sources estimate rebuilding a comparable warehouse could cost about 35.5 billion rubles (approximately $455 million), excluding equipment.

Defense plant also reportedly targeted

Separately, Astra reported, based on geolocated footage, that drones struck the AVITEK machine-building plant in Kirov, triggering a fire.

Residents reported explosions overnight, while Astra’s OSINT analysis identified the burning facility as AO VMP AVITEK on Oktyabrsky Prospekt.

Meanwhile, Exilenova+ speculated that the AVITEK was struck by a Ukrainian Flamingo cruise missile.

The Flamingo is a Ukrainian-developed cruise missile unveiled on Aug. 18, 2025. It has reportedly completed state trials and entered serial production. According to the Associated Press, the missile has a range of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and can carry a warhead weighing more than one metric ton.

Exilenova+ later published what it claimed was footage of the missile’s launch, writing: “The same missile that landed in Kirov and hit the AVITEK plant.”

The claim has not been independently verified, and Ukrainian officials have not commented on the reported use of the Flamingo missile.

According to Russian open sources and Ukraine’s War & Sanctions project, AVITEK manufactures military and dual-use equipment, including components for the Tor surface-to-air missile system, anti-aircraft missiles, pilot ejection seats, and aviation equipment.

The enterprise is under sanctions imposed by Ukraine, the United States, and several other countries.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 571 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight across multiple regions, including Leningrad, Tver, Moscow, Crimea, and the Black and Azov Seas.

Ukraine has not officially commented on the attacks. However, Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) Commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi appeared to hint at another successful operation, writing on Telegram: “Wild berries, +3 burning... Today from Simferopol to St. Petersburg.”