Ukraine war briefing: Strikes devastate Russian warehouses ‘used for drones’

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian long-range strikes hit two drone supply hubs in the Moscow and Tambov regions of Russia. Russian officials and news reports described them as warehouses of the online retailer Wildberries: one in the town of Kotovsk in the Tambov region, about 360km (220 miles) from the border with Ukraine, and another in the city of Elektrostal, about 50km (30 miles) east of Moscow. Zelenskyy said: “These facilities were used by the aggressor to supply sanctioned components for the production of drones and navigation equipment.” Elektrostal is a major centre for metallurgy and machine-building

Zelenskyy said: “In response to Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities, two major logistics facilities were hit – in the Moscow and Tambov regions.” The Tambov regional governor, Yevgeny Pervyshov, said seven night shift workers were killed at the warehouse in Kotovsk and 25 others wounded. Serhii Kuzan, a Ukrainian military analyst, told the BBC that Wildberries was a vital supplier to the Russian army of dual-use and sanctioned goods and electronics. One more person was killed and another wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod region on Saturday afternoon, according to local authorities.

Ukraine’s general staff said Kyiv’s forces hit a fuel depot in Noginsk that supplies the Russian armed forces. The military also reported hitting two tankers, two floating cranes and a tugboat in the Black and Azov seas, saying the vessels were used to transport oil, fuel and military cargo. Separately, the military said it struck a Russian Project 10410 Svetlyak-class patrol ship in Kerch, describing it as the second vessel of that class hit in two days, as well as a railway bridge over the Bila River near Sabivka in the occupied Luhansk region that it said Russia used for military logistics.

Russian missiles hit Kyiv ⁠and the surrounding region early on Sunday, ⁠killing at ⁠least one ​person and injuring nine others as fires ⁠broke out across the city, officials said. Powerful ​explosions ‌rocked the capital ‌as Ukraine’s air force warned ‌of a ballistic missile threat. Fires broke out at a dormitory, a residential block and a supermarket, said the Kyiv mayor, Vitali ‌Klitschko. Several non-residential buildings and ​warehouses were struck, while parked cars and office buildings were set on ⁠fire. Two ​people were ​injured in the Kyiv ​region, ‌according to ​the military ​administration, and warehouses were damaged.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Ruslan Kravchenko, said investigators had recovered key evidence in the case of the attempted assassination of the Ukrainian businessman Vadym Iermolaiev in Monaco. Specialists from Ukraine’s security services restored a surveillance-camera recording that suspects had allegedly attempted to destroy. According to the prosecutor general, the surveillance camera had been installed near the crime scene to obtain confirmation that the alleged contract killing had been carried out. He said the recovered footage was among key pieces of evidence in the investigation.

Protesters have continued in Kyiv calling for the dismissal of Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, after Zelenskyy removed the popular defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov to placate Syrskyi. The Ukraine president defended his decision, saying there had been a “challenging dialogue” between Fedorov and Syrskyi. On the ground at one of the protests, the Guardian’s Luke Harding has filed a video report.

Russia ⁠launched an attack ⁠on ⁠Ukraine’s Odesa port ​infrastructure on Saturday, ⁠hitting a vessel under the ⁠Antigua ​and ‌Barbuda ‌flag and killing ‌one person, said the regional governor, Oleh Kiper. Three people ⁠were injured, he added, while buildings, ​storage tanks and ​warehouses were ​damaged.

North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, flew to Moscow for talks with her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, state media reported on Sunday. North Korea has sent missiles and munitions for Russia to use in its war against Ukraine, while thousands of North Korean troops have died on the frontlines. Analysts say that in return, Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food and energy to the pariah state. In April, the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, pledged to help Russia win its “sacred” war.

Botswana says an “alarming” number of its nationals are being forced into combat in Russia’s war against Ukraine after falling for deceptive recruitment schemes. Several African countries have said the same in recent months. Botwswana’s foreign ministry said: “The ministry continues to receive heartbreaking calls from Batswana already on the frontline, describing the perilous conditions they face.”

In mid-February, the All Eyes on Wagner collective published the names of more than 1,400 Africans it said Moscow had recruited between January 2023 and September 2025 to fight in Ukraine, adding that more than 300 had died. The biggest contingents were from Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana. A Russian soldier was shown on video mocking African recruits as “disposables” before their departure for the frontline, where it is estimated that in some areas Moscow’s recruits survive only 20-35 minutes on average before being killed or maimed by drones.