In Russia, drones attacked one of the largest oil refineries and the Wildberries logistics hub (Updated)

In Russia on the night of August 26, two major facilities came under attack - the Wildberries logistics center in Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast, and the oil refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Large-scale fires broke out at both sites, reports Astra.

In Kotovsk, the fact of the attack on the Wildberries logistics center and the fire has already been confirmed by Tambov Oblast Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov. According to him, the area of the blaze exceeded 100,000 square meters. Russian authorities claim that air defense and mobile fire groups in the region destroyed 16 drones.

Center employees were evacuated after an alarm signal. According to preliminary data from the Russian side, one employee was injured by the blast wave. Wildberries also confirmed damage to its logistics facility and reported that acceptance of new shipments of goods is suspended.

The total area of the logistics complex is about 108,000 square meters. It began operating in 2025 and, after reaching full capacity, was supposed to provide storage for up to 54 million units of goods.

Due to the scale of the fire, the mayor of Kotovsk asked residents not to leave their homes unnecessarily for the next two days because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, reports Astra.

This is already the second attack on this logistics center in just over a month. On July 18, the facility was also hit by drones and temporarily suspended operations. At that time, according to Astra, seven night-shift workers were killed and 25 more people were injured.

Another major fire was recorded overnight in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. Astra, citing local residents, reported an attack on the refinery. Exilenova+ also published footage of explosions and fire and identified the attacked facility as "Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez". As of the morning, there was no official information about the extent of damage at the enterprise.

The Nizhny Novgorod refinery is one of the largest oil refining enterprises in Russia. Its design capacity is about 17 million tons of oil per year. The plant produces motor gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel, as well as other petroleum products.