Several killed in attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv hits Russian e-commerce giant

Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine have killed at least six people, local authorities say, as Moscow and Kyiv trade intensifying strikes targeting each other’s economic and energy infrastructure.

A wave of Russian attacks killed two people and wounded six in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region on Friday, with strikes reported in five districts, governor Oleksandr Hanzha wrote on Telegram. He said five people were killed on Thursday in the same region by a barrage of Russian attacks.

Russia’s military struck Dnipropetrovsk at least 50 times with drones, artillery and aerial bombs on Friday, Hanzha added.

In southern Ukraine’s Kherson, a Molniya drone struck a car driving along a road killing a 77-year-old woman, the local military administration said on Telegram. Eight bus passengers were among dozens wounded in other attacks.

Two people were killed in Kharkiv by cluster munitions, according to the city’s military administration. Governor Oleh Syniehubov said 21 settlements reported strikes from “various” weapons that included missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), wounding at least 18 people.

The governor of Donetsk, Vadym Filashkin, reported one death on Friday morning, noting that Russia shelled the region at least 44 times since Thursday.

In Russian-controlled Crimea, a Ukrainian drone killed two people when it hit an apartment building, said the Russian-installed governor, Sergei Aksyonov.

Ukraine’s president arrived for his first official visit to Serbia on Friday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X that he planned to discuss “expanding economic ties between our countries, relations with the European Union, and other things that can work for our peoples”.

The meeting was expected to anger Russia, Serbia’s long-time ally and natural gas supplier.

Strikes on Russia’s commercial heart

Ukraine’s military has continued to take aim at Wildberries, the so-called “Amazon of Russia”.

Multiple drones were seen flying over a Wildberries logistics facility in Yekaterinburg early on Friday, before large fires broke out. The company confirmed the attack on Telegram, saying the facility was evacuated beforehand and the flames had been contained.

The strike, roughly 2,000 km from the frontline, showed “strategic and economic importance”, as well as being a “blow to the consumer economy”, reported Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova from Moscow.

The attack was the latest to target Wildberries since mid-July, when Kyiv began attacking at least 20 of the company’s sites, killing at least 13 people, triggering fires and destroying stock.

Ukraine says Wildberries supports the war effort, a charge Moscow and the company deny.

As it seeks to curtail Russia’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine says its 40-day strike spree has hit 14 refineries, several oil depots and loading terminals, 14 aircraft and four airfields.

For its part, Russia attacked seven oil and gas production facilities in eastern Ukraine overnight into Friday, according to the state oil and gas company Naftogaz, which claimed on Telegram to have destroyed “critical” equipment.

“Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine’s oil and gas production sector in an attempt to inflict maximum damage on our infrastructure ahead of winter,” acting CEO Sergiy Fedorenko said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said forces hit two more cargo vessels in the Black Sea that it said were being utilised for “the interests of the Ukrainian military”.

Russian forces also hit fuel storage facilities at the port of Pivdennyi, the ministry added.