Long-range Ukrainian drones struck a major warehouse belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer, burning it to the ground, local authorities said Wednesday.

The depot in the Tambov region southeast of Moscow had been hit on July 18, killing seven people. That attack was the start of Ukraine’s aerial campaign that has delivered repeated blows to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries. The company’s size and commercial importance brought comparisons with Amazon.

The company confirmed the attack and said the depot was evacuated. It didn’t say the extent of the damage.

Tambov Gov. Yevgeny Pervyshov said the fire destroyed the logistical center and injured two people.

Ukraine’s cutting-edge drone capabilities developed since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022 have allowed Kyiv to hit Wildberries facilities across the country in recent weeks. Ukraine says goods sold by the company include equipment and technical components that are used by the Russian military, which the company denies. The attacks have unsettled Russians living far from the front and hurt small businesses.

Ukraine also has targeted oil facilities that are the backbone of the economy in Russia, which is one of the world’s largest energy producers.

Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck a Lukoil refinery overnight in Kstovo, in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region. The facility, which has an annual processing capacity of about 125 million barrels, was set ablaze in the attack, a General Staff statement said.

Nizhny Novgorod has been targeted repeatedly by Ukraine. Gov. Gleb Nikitin confirmed the attack and said an unspecified “industrial facility” was damaged, without elaborating.

The relentless barrages prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to decree that the state can temporarily seize control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners don’t protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or don’t rebuild them after the strikes. Analysts said the move aimed to compel companies to pay for their own security and bring damaged assets back into service, despite the cost.

Ukraine struck Russian oil facilities, airfields, logistics and infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post Wednesday. He didn’t elaborate on the targets.

Musk honored

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday awarded Elon Musk Ukraine’s Order of Freedom, one of its highest state honors, for his “outstanding personal merits” in protecting human life and freedom and strengthening ties with the United States.

Musk, the founder of the aerospace company SpaceX, has become one of the most influential, and contentious, private sector figures in Ukraine’s war effort. His decision to provide access to Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet network, was a lifeline for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and remains critically important.

Starlink has become deeply embedded in Ukraine’s military operations, with commanders and soldiers relying on satellite connectivity to communicate and coordinate operations.

Marine vet released

Robert Gilman’s release from Russian custody this month heralded a long-awaited homecoming for the Marine veteran after more than four years behind bars.

But as Harold Jezler followed the media coverage from the United States, he couldn’t help but notice Gilman’s gaunt and sickly appearance and think of the implications for his wife, Olga, who has been detained in Russia since 2022 and faces her own health problems.

Gilman is the latest in a succession of prisoners freed by Russia going back years, but more Americans are held there. Among those jailed are a Navy veteran with gastrointestinal illness, a man with an autoimmune disease, another with severe dental damage and Olga Jezler, 36, who was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition involving abnormal tissue growth from the uterus that can cause severe pain and infertility.

Pro-Russia group claims cyberattack

A pro-Russian hacker group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that has affected multiple Norwegian government digital services over the past three days.

The cyberattack has been ongoing since Monday, said Are Kvistad, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Digitalization Agency (Digdir), the state body in charge of making Norway’s public services more digital and user-friendly, told the Associated Press.