Russia: Wildberries Hub and Kstovo Oil Refinery Hit by Drones, Catch Fire

Ukrainian drones struck a Wildberries logistics hub in Kotovsk, Tambov region, and an oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, overnight on August 26.

Videos posted by monitoring channels, along with reports from local authorities and eyewitnesses, indicate that both sites were hit.

Reports of a fire at the Wildberries facility emerged shortly after 1 a.m. Local residents said they heard at least 10 explosions, after which a fire broke out in one of the city’s districts.

Later, the regional governor confirmed that the Wildberries logistics center had been hit. The facility covers around 108,000 square meters and is one of the key logistics hubs in central Russia.

The facility began operating in 2025 and, once fully operational, was expected to store up to 54 million items.

This was a second strike on the hub. Drones previously attacked it on July 18, when the facility temporarily suspended operations due to a fire. Seven employees were reportedly killed.

This time, footage shows a massive fire raging at the facility, which is likely to destroy a large part of it, or possibly the entire site.

Closer to dawn, Ukrainian drones struck LUKOIL-NizhegorodNefteProekt in the city of Kstovo – Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery by capacity and its second-largest gasoline producer.

Videos from local residents show several fires burning across the facility, along with thick black smoke.

After previous strikes, the refinery suspended operations because of damage to its processing equipment. One attack took place on July 2.

The Kstovo oil refinery has a maximum design capacity of around 17 million tonnes of crude oil per year. Before the Ukrainian strikes, the plant could produce around 5 million tonnes of gasoline, more than 5 million tonnes of diesel fuel, 2 million tonnes of fuel oil, and around 500,000 tonnes of bitumen.

Overall, the facility produced more than 50 different petroleum products.