Ukraine fired more than 400 drones toward Moscow on Monday, the city's mayor said, starting a fire at the Yuzhnye Vrata industrial park — another Wildberries warehouse site similar to those hit over the weekend. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck logistics facilities and an oil depot in the Moscow region, as well as two vessels belonging to Russia's shadow fleet transporting sanctioned oil and four dry cargo ships in the Black Sea.
The attack around Russia's capital also caused a fire at an oil depot in Podolsk, about 20 kilometres south of Moscow, according to the Astra news outlet. Zelenskyy said the warehouses were targeted because of their involvement in the Russian war effort. The strikes mark a significant escalation in Ukraine's ability to project power deep into Russian territory.
Russia, meanwhile, bombarded Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles. An attack on an infrastructure facility in the southern city of Odesa on Monday killed at least three people and injured three others, a city official said. Further deaths were reported in the eastern cities of Pavlograd and Kramatorsk, and in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. Russian strikes have killed 28 people in the Odesa region in July alone, said the regional governor, Oleh Kiper. «If you take since the beginning of July, the Odesa region was under constant daily shelling. There were days when 13-15 air raid alerts had been announced in the region,» he said.
Ukraine's military commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, was widely expected to lose his job amid signs that Zelenskyy has bowed to protests triggered by his sacking last week of the modernising defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov. Ukraine's general staff denied media reports that Syrskyi was about to be sacked, but Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, hinted at it, saying «the public's position has been heard» and the situation was being resolved «professionally and constructively», urging «everyone to keep calm». One source in the armed forces confirmed Syrskyi's imminent departure. «His destiny is decided. The question is who will replace him. There are a few important requirements. The person should be known and popular so everyone applauds,» Budanov said. «The enemy is closely watching every one of our internal disputes and waiting for us to start fighting among ourselves … work is under way. Results will follow.»
According to the Institute for the Study of War thinktank, Russia has launched more ballistic missiles against Ukraine in July so far than it is thought to produce each month. «Russia appears to be dipping into its stockpiles to continue increasing the number of ballistic missiles it launches against Ukraine, as these missiles have a higher success rate than drones and cruise missiles,» the institute said. This suggests that Moscow's missile production capacity is struggling to keep pace with its battlefield consumption.
Ukrainian strikes on Russia's Belgorod border region killed six people on Monday, authorities said, while Kyiv reported eight deaths after Russian attacks. The acting governor of Belgorod, Alexander Shuvaev, said a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger coach, and another strike killed a man at a car wash. Ukraine denies targeting civilians.
Ukraine's seaports authority said a cargo vessel under the flag of Guinea Bissau was hit by Russian forces on Sunday shortly after it left the port of Odesa, killing 10 of its crew, including five sailors from Syria. Eight people were rescued from the ship, which was carrying Ukrainian corn. India said four of its nationals were among those killed and another was injured in the attack on the grain-carrying ship MV Golden Leo near the Ukrainian port. An Indian foreign ministry statement condemned the strike. Ukraine's navy said five people were killed and another five missing. The dead included a Ukrainian maritime pilot. Syria said it «strongly condemns the repeated attacks targeting commercial vessels with Syrian sailors and crews aboard in Ukrainian ports and nearby maritime areas in the Black Sea, and the resulting deaths and injuries among Syrian sailors».
The developments come as the war enters its 1,609th day, with both sides continuing to inflict heavy casualties and damage on each other's infrastructure. The international community has repeatedly called for de-escalation, but diplomatic efforts have so far failed to produce a ceasefire.
