One Russian warehouse smolders near Kazakhstan while a bigger fire rages near St. Petersburg

Ukrainian drones struck a logistics complex belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon in Orenburg on 23 August, the second Ozon warehouse hit in two days, monitoring Telegram channels reported. The site sits about 1,200 km from the war zone, near Russia’s border with Kazakhstan. Hours earlier, a large fire tore through a separate warehouse outside St. Petersburg, roughly 900 km north of Ukraine, though local authorities declared no drone or missile threat.

Kyiv’s long-range drone program has pushed its reach ever deeper into the Russian rear, turning fuel depots, factories, and delivery hubs far behind the lines into routine targets, and retail networks have drawn special attention because their warehouses double as arteries for the wider war economy. Each strike this far inside Russia forces Moscow to stretch air defenses across a country too vast to shield everywhere at once. Disrupted e-commerce warehouses also add to pressure already showing at the pumps, where fuel shortages have brought rationing to major cities.

Drones hit Russia’s biggest Ozon warehouse

Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ published video of the strike moment, after which a fire took hold on the site. Independent Russian outlet Astra analyzed eyewitness footage showing an emergency vehicle racing toward the depot. The complex spans more than 200,000 m² and was designed to hold over 31 million items, ranking among Ozon’s biggest in Russia.

One Russian warehouse smolders near Kazakhstan while a bigger fire rages near St. Petersburg — Smoke rising over the Ozon logistics complex in Orenburg, Russia, 23 August 2026. Photo: Exilenova+

The warehouse stands inside the city’s special economic zone, a tax-favored industrial park on the eastern edge of European Russia. The first phase opened in August 2024, and a second building followed in 2025.

Orenburg mayor Albert Yumadilov claimed several drones were downed over the special economic zone and that debris fell on the Ozon complex, starting a fire that crews quickly put out with no one hurt.

Ozon confirmed the strike, saying it evacuated more than 300 workers, pulled its goods from the marketplace and stopped taking new deliveries while the site sat idle.

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A second fire near St. Petersburg, with no air-raid alert

Overnight, a large blaze hit a warehouse in the Kolpino area south of St. Petersburg. Astra established that the warehouse stood about 350 m from an Ozon site, and witnesses said they heard no drones or air defense. Ukrainian Telegram channel Exile+ identified the burning facility as a storage warehouse run by Logistera.

one russian warehouse smolders near kazakhstan while bigger fire rages st petersburg · post large complex kolpino area russia 23 2026 saint astra ukraine news ukrainian reports — A large fire at a warehouse complex in the Kolpino area of St. Petersburg, Russia, 23 August 2026. Photo: Astra

Part of a widening campaign on Russian marketplace logistics

The Orenburg hit followed the first-ever Ozon strike a day earlier, at a warehouse in Chapaevsk, Samara Oblast. Before turning to Ozon, Ukrainian drones had struck more than 10 warehouses belonging to the larger Russian marketplace Wildberries. Such marketplace hubs move not only consumer goods but dual-use items like electronics and drone components that can reach Russia’s military.

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