AI fake claims to show Russian warehouse’s message to Ukraine drone operatorpublished at 14:35 BST

14:35 BST

By Thomas Copeland, BBC Verify, and Fridon Kiria, BBC Monitoring

This image claiming to show a message on the roof of a warehouse belonging to Wildberries’ competitor Ozon saying in Russian “This is not Wildberries. Fly past” has spread widely across social media and has been used by some news outlets - but it’s AI-generated.

OpenAI’s online verification tool detected a SynthID digital watermark on the image. This tells us it was made using one of OpenAI’s tools.

We’ve traced the image back to a post on TikTok that has been viewed nearly eight million times.

TikTok has added an AI-generated label to the post but it has since spread across other platforms where it’s being presented as real.

A fourth person has been injured as a result of a fire at the site of the Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Vladimir region, the local governor has said.

Alexander Avdeyev says in a post on Telegram that the blaze has been contained after stretching over an area of 100,000 sq m (0.1 sq km).

He adds the incident led to the deployment of 203 firefighters and 67 pieces of equipment, including specialists and a government helicopter.

Russia has denied that online marketplace Wildberries provides Russian military gear.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied accusations during a news conference on 21 July, following attacks on Wildberries hubs in the cities of Kotovsk and Elektrostal on 18 July.

"That's not true," Peskov said in response to a question on the matter, Moscow's state news agency Tass reports.

Last week, the Ukrainska Pravda news website reported that Wildberries had removed the product tag "Everything for the SMO" [special military operation] from its website, citing The Moscow Times.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky says that Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to "drag this war out further" as Ukraine launches fresh strikes on targets across Russia.

In a speech delivered to Ukrainian diplomats, Zelensky says he cannot predict "with 100% certainty" when Ukraine's diplomatic efforts, sanctions and strikes against Russia will leave Russia with "no alternative but peace".

He says Ukraine will do what it can to ensure this "happens in the autumn", but says "we clearly understand who we are dealing with", adding that Putin "hopes to drag this war out further".

"We see Russia’s true intentions [and] are uniting our partners and putting pressure on the aggressor," he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence says it struck a number of Russian military targets overnight, in addition to apparent Ukrainian strikes against sites belonging to Russian retailer Wildberries.

It says it hit several logistics and communications hubs in Crimea, a drone launch site in Bryansk and a fuel depot in Belgorod.

It comes amid increasing Ukrainian attacks on Russian infrastructure, with Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday announcing strikes against an oil refinery and military air base in Russia's Stratov region.

"We are bringing the war back to where it came from," he said, adding that Ukraine continues to expand its "long-range capabilities".

Other notable infrastructure strikes in recent months include:

• 4 July - Ukraine hit a a major oil terminal in the city of St Petersburg, with Zelensky describing it as key "infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war"
• 24 June - A Ukrainian strike against an electricity substation knocked out power in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russian-occupied Crimea
• 18 June - Plumes of black smoke filled the Moscow sky as Ukraine hit an oil refinery in one of its largest attacks since the outbreak of the war
• 30 April - Ukraine says it hit one of Russia's largest oil refineries in the city of Perm, more than 1,500km (930 miles) from the front line

The latest set of blows between Russia and Ukraine has led to three deaths in the Russian-controlled territory of Crimea, the Moscow-installed governor has said, in what he described as a "barbaric attack".

The region, which is internationally recognised as being Ukrainian, was illegally annexed by Vladimir Putin in 2014.

It has since become linked to Russia by road and rail connections along a land corridor through occupied areas of southern Ukraine, and since 2018 by a road and rail bridge across the Kerch Strait.

The future of the territory has remained a central point in peace talks between the two countries, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refusing the possibility of Kyiv recognising Russian control.

Efforts from Ukraine to isolate Crimea have ramped up in recent months as multiple blackouts have been reported amid attacks on power facilities, with Kyiv also targeting key bridges connecting the peninsula to Russia, leading to fuel shortages.

The number of people killed in a Russian village in the south-west of the country has risen to six, the governor of Krasnodor Krai says.

In a post on Telegram, Veniamin Kondratiev says three of the six people dead are children and around 40 others are injured.

Earlier, the governor said preliminary reports initially suggested three people had been killed in the area by falling drone debris.

Kondratiev describes it as "a targeted attack by the Kyiv regime".

Kieran Kelly
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Progress on the battlefield

Russia advanced on average 1.22 sq km per day in July, according to a recent report by, external Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

The ISW says that Russia's rate of advance has remained largely unchanged since February 2026 and that its summer offensive - launched the following month - has "failed to make any operationally significant gains".

Casualty rates

Russia reportedly suffered its highest monthly casualty rate of the war in July, with the Ukrainian army estimating 42,860 Russian casualties, a number that includes people killed or injured in the conflict. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied Ukrainian casualty estimates.

The BBC's Russian service, working with Mediazona, has confirmed 236,066 Russian military deaths between 24 Feb 2022 and 26 July 2026.

For Ukrainian soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky last acknowledged 55,000 deaths in February 2026.

Recruitment struggles

Ukraine is continuing to struggle to recruit enough men to fight in the war, with the country's military ombudswoman reporting "regular" attacks against recruitment officers as a "major problem".

Russia, meanwhile, is increasingly turning to universities to boost recruitment. BBC Russian found evidence of recruitment activity in at least 95 universities and colleges by late February.

It started when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour on 24 February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his goal was to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine - he has repeatedly painted the country as a Nazi state. Our explainer looks at the distortions and untruths that Russia has previously spread about Nazis in Ukraine.

The Russian leader has long questioned Ukraine's right to exist, claiming that "modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia" after the communist revolution in 1917.

In February 2022, troops moved in quickly, accompanied by dozens of missile strikes on cities across Ukraine.

Within a few weeks, Russian forces were in control of large areas of eastern, northern and southern Ukraine - and had advanced to the suburbs of the capital Kyiv.

However, they met strong Ukrainian resistance - and by November 2022 the picture had changed dramatically. Ukraine had regained ground in the north and Russia failed to take Kyiv.

Since then, progress on both sides has slowed. In recent months, Russia has been gradually expanding the amount of territory controls - particularly in the east - but gains have been minimal.

Yaroslava Kiryukhina
BBC Russian

Image source, Reuters

Between 17% and 22% of Wildberries' total logistics space had been affected by drone attacks by 2 August, according to an estimate by the research agency Data Insight published by Forbes Russia.

The agency calculated that between 893,000 and 1.15 million square metres of warehouse space had been damaged. Wildberries' parent company, RWB, has previously said its logistics infrastructure covers about 5.2 million square metres.

This does not mean that a fifth of the company's warehouses has been completely destroyed. Some facilities suffered only partial damage, and several have since resumed operations.

The independent Russian outlet Vyorstka produced a higher estimate of about 27%, but it used a different method. It counted the full size of every warehouse that was hit, rather than only the parts believed to have been damaged.

New footage shows fire and smoke over Wildberries warehousepublished at 12:36 BST

12:36 BST

Image source, Supernova+

By Shayan Sardarizadeh

Footage posted on social media shows smoke rising from a Wildberries warehouse in Russia’s Vladimir region following an apparent Ukrainian drone attack today.

The video, filmed from a passing vehicle on a motorway, shows a fire burning and a thick column of black smoke billowing from the complex.

The warehouse is about 160km (100 miles) east of the Russian capital, Moscow.

Earlier, we verified a video showing a drone striking close to the warehouse.

Image source, Reuters

For those just joining us, here's a quick recap of what we know so far:

• An apparent Ukrainian drone has hit a warehouse for Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries - often described as "Russia's Amazon"
• It follows a number of attacks on Wildberries warehouses and logistics hubs across Russia since mid-July
• In the past few days, deadly aerial attacks have intensified between Russia and Ukraine, with hundreds of drones intercepted by both countries in the last 24 hours
• Three ships carrying military goods in Ukraine's part of the Black Sea have been struck by Russian drones, according to Russia's defence ministry
• A special task force has been set up by Russia to navigate the "tense situation in the Sea of Azov" - a strategic route for Russian grain exports

Stick with us as we continue to bring the latest updates and analysis.

Image source, Reuters

Ongoing attacks on warehouses belonging to Wildberries have led to the company making support payments to victims and merchants whose products were damaged, the online retailer said last week.

A statement last Tuesday said over 40m rubles (£373,000) of financial compensation has been paid by the company to "seriously injured" personnel and the families of those who have died.

It added in a statement two days later that more than 97,000 small and medium-sized businesses had received support in a second round of payments, with over 88,000 merchants being supported in an initial round.

Wildberries, widely described as "Russia's Amazon", employs about 48,000 staff. Both statements were made before further strikes on the company's warehouses over the weekend - including one in the Vladimir region.

Verified videos show strikes on nine Wildberries sitespublished at 11:49 BST

11:49 BST

By Thomas Copeland

BBC Verify has been tracking Ukraine’s campaign of strikes against Wildberries warehouses and logistics hubs across Russia since mid-July.

So far we’ve verified footage showing nine of these strikes:

• 18 July: Kotovsk
• 20 July: Koledino
• 22 July: Nevinnomyssk
• 22 July: Krasnodar
• 24 July: St Petersburg
• 25 July: Yekaterinburg
• 29 July: Ryazan
• 2 August: Novosemeykino
• 3 August: Khryastovo

Correction 13:45: The map originally used in this post incorrectly stated that Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2024, not 2014. This has now been corrected.

Wildberries strikes are bringing the war closer to Russianspublished at 11:22 BST

11:22 BST

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

To many Russians, until recently, war was something happening far away; something that didn’t seem to impact their lives.

That’s changing.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries have sparked a summer fuel shortage in many parts of Russia.

Now the targeting of Wildberries warehouses is bringing the war closer to home.

Wildberries is Russia’s largest online retailer, accounting for just over 50% of all online orders in the country.

Recently the company’s CEO Tatiana Kim claimed that "every person in Russia" uses it. That’s tens of millions of Russian customers potentially facing disruption because of Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries hubs.

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of sellers who use the online platform. For them the strikes are making an already difficult economic situation even worse. Some small businesses have watched their stock go up in smoke.

Image source, Getty Images

Three people have been killed by falling drone debris, says the governor of Krasnodor Krai.

In a post on Telegram, Veniamin Kondratiev says preliminary reports suggest 13 people, including children, were also injured in the area which is in south-west Russia.

Kondratiev adds the attack "targeted civilian infrastructure".

Image source, COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Reuters

Russia says it is stepping up protection of ships in the Azov-Black Sea basin following Ukranian drone attacks on its maritime vessels.

In response to what it describes as the "tense situation in the Sea of Azov", the Russian transport ministry says it has set up a special task force to coordinate transportation, redirect cargo and find alternative routes.

Together with the defence ministry, it says additional measures are being taken to "ensure the safety of navigation and protect maritime vessels in the Azov-Black Sea basin".

It comes as both sides continue to escalate attacks at sea, with Russia reporting strikes on three ships carrying military goods in Ukraine's part of the Black Sea on Monday.

For context: The Sea of Azov is an inland sea linked to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait, which sits between the Moscow-annexed Crimea and Russia. The route is used by Russia for around a quarter of its grain exports.

Sofia Volyanova, Yaroslava Kiryukhina, Amalia Zatari and Tatiana Kovtun
BBC News Russian

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Supporting small and medium-sized businesses, many of which depend on online marketplaces like Wildberries, has been among Vladimir Putin's priorities even in wartime.

It has been framed as a backbone of resilience in the face of Western sanctions.

But the Russian state has been unable to shield the sector from the war's impact, and there have been several shocks to businesses since the start of the year.

VAT went up from 20% to 22% in January, with extra funding earmarked for defence - and tax breaks for some businesses were scrapped.

Some 209,000 small and medium-sized companies closed in the first quarter of 2026, according to business intelligence platform Kontur.Fokus. That is 9% more than in the first three months of 2025.

"I've lost 1m roubles (£9,500; $12,700)... We're already getting screwed over from every direction as it is," one woman complained in an expletive-laden social media post that went viral.

• Read more on how businesses in Russia are coping during the war

Image source, Reuters

Wildberries is Russia's biggest online retailer, and is often described as "Russia's Amazon".

Founded: 2004.

USP: It connects independent sellers with buyers across Russia, storing and delivering their goods, and handling payments.

CEO: Tatyana Kim, one of Russia's first female billionaires.

Staff: About 48,000.

Value: The merged RWB group, which combines Wildberries with advertising company Russ, was valued at about $12.6bn (£9.3bn) by Forbes Russia in 2026.

Involvement in the war: Ukraine has hit a number of Wildberries logistics hubs, describing them as legitimate targets because they provide the Russian military with drone components, navigation equipment and other gear. Russia denies this.

Video shows drone hitting Wildberries warehouse sitepublished at 10:05 BST

10:05 BST

By Fridon Kiria and Shayan Sardarizadeh

BBC Monitoring and BBC Verify have authenticated footage showing the moment an apparent Ukrainian drone struck a major Russian Wildberries warehouse this morning.

The video, filmed in the car park of a Wildberries warehouse in Khryastovo, Vladimir region, shows a blast and a subsequent fire near the complex.

BBC Verify has confirmed that the footage is recent and has not been manipulated with generative AI.