[ADDRESS] has begun systematically targeting the warehouses of [ADDRESS]’s second-largest online marketplace, [ADDRESS], after weeks of drone strikes against market leader [PERSON_NAME]. [PERSON_NAME] said on Monday that a logistics centre in [ADDRESS] was set ablaze by a drone after four of its warehouses in southern [ADDRESS] had come under attack over the weekend, with fires breaking out at least two of the sites. Over the weekend, [PERSON_NAME] reported fires at its warehouse in [ADDRESS], the capital of [ADDRESS], while two other sites, in Adygeysk and Nevinnomyssk, were evacuated after drone attack warnings. The incidents followed strikes on Saturday on [ADDRESS] facilities in the central Russian region of [ADDRESS] and in nearby [ADDRESS].

The attacks mark a new stage in [ADDRESS]’s campaign against Russian ecommerce logistics, after weeks of drone strikes on facilities belonging to [PERSON_NAME], the market leader known as “[ADDRESS]’s Amazon”. [ADDRESS]’s defence ministry said on Monday its air defences had shot down almost 1,000 Ukrainian drones over the previous 24 hours. Russian officials said a children’s centre in the [ADDRESS] region had been hit by drone debris in the overnight attack, killing three children and injuring several others. [PERSON_NAME] shares fell almost 30 per cent on the Moscow Exchange on Monday, prompting the exchange to hold a discretionary auction. [ADDRESS]’s finance ministry also published a proposal for financial assistance to [PERSON_NAME] and sellers on its platform, including a 12-month deferral of payment deadlines on VAT, income tax and other taxes.