--- title: "Night wave of hundreds of drones: what is known about the Ukrainian strikes on an oil refinery and a Wildberries warehouse" description: "On the night of August 25–26, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a massive drone strike on Russian regions: the Russian Ministry of Defense reported 426 UAVs shot down, while an oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and a Wildberries warehouse in Tambov Oblast were engulfed in flames." date: 2026-08-26T06:44:07.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/night-drone-strikes-on-oil-refinery-and-wildberries-warehouse tags: [ukraine-war, drones, russia, oil-refineries, wildberries, air-defense] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Night wave of hundreds of drones: what is known about the Ukrainian strikes on an oil refinery and a Wildberries warehouse ![Ukrainian soldier launches a tactical drone in a field ahead of the night wave of drone strikes on an oil refinery and Wildberries warehouse](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/26/noch-udara-dronami-po-npz-i-sk-adu-wildberries/noch-udara-dronami-po-npz-i-sk-adu-wildberries-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that on the night of August 25–26, air defense shot down 426 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs. - Ukrainian FP-1 drones simultaneously struck an oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the largest Wildberries warehouse in Tambov Oblast. - Within a few months, Ukraine has knocked out nearly a third of Russia's largest oil refineries as part of a systematic campaign. - Open sources disagree on interception figures: 426, 269, and 148 targets in different publications. Last night, from 20:00 on August 25 to 07:00 on August 26, 2026, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out one of the largest nighttime operations using strike drones in recent times. According to RBC-Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on-duty air defense forces were repelling an "air attack" for nearly twelve hours. According to the Russian defense ministry, 426 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were "neutralized" during this period. As in most similar cases, the Russian side did not disclose the total number of UAVs that, by its own logic, were launched as part of the attack. ### Scale of the nighttime attack The operation had the character of a distributed strike: drones were sent simultaneously to several Russian regions, which is typical of a tactic designed to overload air defense systems and reduce the effectiveness of their interception. As of the morning of August 26, it was officially confirmed that Ukrainian FP-1-type drones simultaneously struck two key targets — an oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the largest warehouse of the Wildberries network in Tambov Oblast. Explosions in the area of the facility in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast were recorded at approximately 03:40, and shortly thereafter footage of a large-scale fire near the plant began circulating in open sources. ### Targets in Nizhny Novgorod and Tambov Oblasts The choice of targets underscores the dual nature of the campaign: strikes are being delivered simultaneously to military-economic infrastructure (oil refining) and to logistical hubs of the civilian sector. The attack on the Wildberries warehouse in Tambov Oblast was not the first — on July 18, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already struck a warehouse of the same network in Kotovsk. This points to a deliberate effort to disrupt supply chains and distribution hubs that, from Kyiv's perspective, support both the civilian and the military rear of the adversary. ### A systematic campaign against fuel infrastructure The strike on the oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast fits into a broader picture: within a matter of months, Ukraine has, according to available data, knocked out nearly a third of Russia's largest oil refineries. These strikes are seen as part of a systematic campaign against fuel infrastructure, aimed at reducing the refining capacity and logistical capabilities of the Russian economy in the context of a protracted conflict. The cumulative effect of such attacks is not so much one-off fires as a building pressure on the energy and industrial potential of the aggressor state. ### Contradictory data At the same time, open sources show a notable discrepancy in the figures on the outcome of the nighttime interception. RBC-Ukraine and a number of specialized outlets, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense, report 426 destroyed drones. Meanwhile, other publications record different results for nighttime air defense shifts: some materials speak of 148 shot-down aerial targets, others of 269 drones eliminated over 12 hours. The difference in figures may be explained by the fact that different sources describe different nighttime shifts or use different counting methods (for example, separate accounting of fixed-wing and rotary-wing UAVs). The Ukrainian side, for its part, traditionally does not publish comparable summaries, so independent verification of the exact number of launched and shot-down aircraft is currently impossible. Either way, the nighttime operation of August 25–26 once again confirmed that massive drone strikes on Russia's rear infrastructure remain one of the key instruments of the air campaign of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the Russian Ministry of Defense's claims of "hundreds" of shot-down targets effectively acknowledge the scale and regularity of such attacks. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Hundreds of drones flew: Russian MoD reports a large-scale Ukrainian attack](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/letili-sotni-droniv-minoboroni-rf-zayavilo-1787726362.html) - Подтверждает заявление МО РФ о масштабной атаке и фигуру 426 сбитых БПЛА; источник основного текста. - [Strikes did not stop for hours: 426 drones destroyed over Russia](https://voennoedelo.com/posts/id88942-udary-ne-prekraschalis-chasami-426-dronov-unichtozheny-nad-rossiej) - Совпадает с основной версией: 426 уничтоженных дронов, удары длились часами. - [A night under the drone hum: air defense destroyed 148 aerial targets over Russia](https://voennoedelo.com/posts/id88906-noch-pod-gul-dronov-pvo-unichtozhila-148-vozdushnyh-tselej-nad-rossiej) - Совпадает с основной версией: 426 уничтоженных дронов, удары длились часами. - [Russian on-duty air defense forces eliminated 269 Ukrainian drones in 12 hours](https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/c83beac9) - Приводит цифру 269 дронов за 12 часов; не совпадает с 426. Источник противоречия по количеству. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: How many drones, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, were shot down on the night of August 25–26? **A:** The Russian Ministry of Defense reported 426 destroyed fixed-wing drones, although it does not disclose the exact number of UAVs launched. Meanwhile, other publications cite different figures (269 and 148), which is reflected in the contradictory data section. ### Q: Which targets did Ukrainian drones strike on the night of August 25–26? **A:** As of the morning of August 26, it is officially known that an oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and the largest Wildberries warehouse in Tambov Oblast were struck by FP-1-type drones. ### Q: Is this the first strike on a Wildberries warehouse? **A:** No. On July 18, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already attacked a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk, so the strike in Tambov Oblast was a repeated hit on a logistical hub of this network. ### Q: How do the strikes on oil refineries fit into the overall campaign? **A:** Within a matter of months, Ukraine has, according to available data, knocked out nearly a third of Russia's largest oil refineries; these strikes are seen as part of a systematic campaign against fuel infrastructure.