Ukraine Drone Attacks Cause Casualties in Russia, Escalating Retaliation

Ukraine's drone attacks into Russian territory have intensified, with Russian officials reporting that nine people were killed and over 80 injured in Russia due to Ukrainian drone strikes on the night of July 17-18. The Ukrainian military continues its vigorous aerial campaign against energy infrastructure and military targets in Russia, aiming to reduce Russia's war-making capacity and make it understand the consequences of the war on Ukraine, which has now entered its fifth year. According to Russian authorities, Ukrainian drone attacks hit two warehouses belonging to the company WILDBERRIES. One warehouse was located in the city of Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast, approximately 360 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, and the other was in the city of Elektrostal, about 60 kilometers east of Moscow. Seven night-shift employees were killed and 25 others injured in Kotovsk. Both warehouses caught fire, but the founder of WILDBERRIES, Tatyana Bakalchuk, claimed on the morning of July 18 that the fire at the Kotovsk warehouse had been extinguished. However, video footage circulating on social media shows the Elektrostal warehouse burning fiercely, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky. In a statement on July 18, the President of Ukraine claimed that Ukraine's attacks targeted two important logistics sites in the Moscow and Tambov regions. These sites were reportedly used by Russia for the production of drone components and navigation equipment. A Russian oil facility was also reported to have been attacked. Ukrainian special forces also attacked Russian targets in the Sea of Azov and in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. In retaliation for these new attacks, the Russian military resumed its strikes on Kyiv on the night of July 18-19, causing at least one death and 13 injuries. The Ukrainian military stated that these were ballistic missile attacks.