Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks targeting energy facilities and military logistics centers. Local officials in Russia announced today (Sunday) that Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least two people in areas along the Volga River overnight and hit targets including a warehouse belonging to Wildberries, the largest online retail company in Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that its air defenses managed to shoot down 635 drones during a wide-ranging Ukrainian attack carried out last night, which targeted more than 10 areas within Russian territory, in addition to the Crimean Peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. The war between Moscow and Kyiv is witnessing an increasing escalation in the use of drones, which have become one of the prominent tools of confrontation, whether in targeting military facilities or sites of economic and strategic importance behind the front lines. Following the attack, the governor of the Saratov region in Russia, Roman Bousargin, announced the death of two people due to a strike carried out by a Ukrainian drone in the area, without revealing further details about the location of the targeting. In contrast, Ukrainian authorities reported that 10 people were killed yesterday (Saturday) due to a nighttime Russian attack targeting the capital Kyiv and its surroundings. The Ukrainian army stated that it targeted an oil refinery in the Saratov region in southwestern Russia and the Engels military airbase in the same area. The Ukrainian General Staff said that the strikes caused fires at both facilities. They added that the forces also bombed an oil warehouse in the Kaluga region of western Russia. The Ukrainian attack comes amid a mutual escalation of long-range strikes between the two sides; Russia has intensified its missile and air attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in recent months, while Kyiv has expanded the scope of its operations within Russian territory and the Ukrainian areas controlled by Moscow. Ukrainian attacks have particularly targeted energy-related facilities, including oil refineries and fuel depots, as well as logistical sites and shipping vessels at sea, in addition to economic facilities, including warehouses belonging to the giant Russian e-commerce company Wildberries. Ukrainian forces have attacked about 12 Wildberries sites since July 18 in an attempt to disrupt the operations of the company, which is considered a cornerstone of the consumer economy and is often described as the Russian counterpart to Amazon. Kyiv sees these strikes as aimed at weakening Russian logistical and economic capabilities and reducing Moscow's ability to finance its military operations, while Russia describes them as attacks targeting civilian facilities and uses them to justify the expansion of its military operations.