Kotovsk Mayor Alexei Plakhotnikov urged residents to stay indoors for the next two days and keep windows and balconies closed, citing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and exposure to combustion products from the smoke and smog spreading across the city after a fire at a Wildberries logistics center.
The fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack in the early hours of Wednesday. Tambov Region Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said air defense systems and mobile fire teams had destroyed 16 drones, but one strike caused the blaze. He put the fire's area at 40,000 square meters, while the mayor estimated it at more than 100,000 square meters.
One warehouse employee was injured in the attack. Wildberries' press service said workers had been evacuated in advance and that no new deliveries were being accepted at the facility. A private house in the region also caught fire after a drone fell.
Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+ published video of the large-scale fire, reportedly filmed by local residents. The total area of the Wildberries logistics complex in Kotovsk is 108,000 square meters, according to open data.