Drone strikes in Russia’s Volgograd region ignite fires, wound civilians as Kyiv steps up long-range attacks; Romania scrambles jets after border alerts

Drone strikes attributed to Ukrainian forces on Friday ignited fires at an energy installation and storage depots in Russia’s Volgograd region, injuring five people, regional governor Andrei Bocearov said on Telegram. Bocearov did not provide additional detail about the specific energy facilities affected. The incident occurred in a region that is home to a Lukoil oil refinery.

One of the sites hit was a logistics centre belonging to Wildberries, one of the largest online retailers in Russia, the company said in a Telegram statement. Wildberries reported that the logistics facility in the city of Volgograd caught fire as a result of the attack but that there were no fatalities at that location. Earlier in the week, the retailer had said several of its depots were struck and that it had issued a second tranche of financial support to nearly 100,000 sellers whose goods were damaged.

In neighbouring Rostov region, authorities reported a separate drone strike on Friday. Governor Iuri Sliusar said a woman was injured in the town of Gukovo following the attack. Local officials provided no further immediate details about the nature of the damage there.

Ukraine has increased strikes inside Russian territory in recent weeks, targeting logistics hubs and energy infrastructure. Kyiv has described the strikes as "sancțiuni pe distanță lungă" — long-distance sanctions — intended to erode Moscow’s ability to sustain its military operations and to pressure Russia to end the fighting that has continued for more than four years.

The strikes have had broader civilian and economic consequences inside Russia, including damage to supply chains and energy facilities that officials and businesses say have contributed to localized shortages. Wildberries’ repeated targeting of its facilities highlights the broader risks to commercial logistics networks operating in or near conflict zones.

Separately, Russia said on Friday that its forces had struck a vessel carrying military cargo near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, a claim reported by Reuters that could not be independently verified. The exchange of strikes at sea and on land underscores the widening geography of hostilities across and beyond Ukraine’s borders.

In a related development, Romania — a NATO and European Union member — said it scrambled two fighter jets late Thursday after its air-defence systems detected a group of aerial targets near the riverine border with Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence reported that the targets disappeared from radar without entering Romanian airspace; the alert was later lifted. Authorities noted that explosions were reported on Ukrainian territory in the same timeframe.

The recent series of strikes and cross-border alerts raises questions about civilian protection, the risk of escalation, and the capacity of regional states and international organisations to respond to incidents that cross or threaten to cross national boundaries. NATO and the European Union have previously condemned incidents involving spillover into allied territory, such as an earlier case of a Russian missile falling in Poland, and continue to monitor developments closely.

Officials, humanitarian groups and businesses in the affected areas have begun assessing damage and the humanitarian impact of the attacks. As the conflict persists, the targeting of logistics and energy infrastructure — and the resulting harm to civilians and commerce — will remain a focal point for debates over proportionality, the protection of noncombatants, and the legal and political responsibilities of the belligerent parties.