Ukraine strikes warehouses deep inside Russia as war enters fourth year

Five people are dead in Moscow after Ukrainian forces struck warehouses in the Russian capital, according to Russian authorities. The BBC reports the strikes hit multiple facilities, while the Independent identifies one target as a Wildberries warehouse - Russia's largest online retailer.

The strikes mark a continuation of Ukraine's strategy of hitting logistics and storage facilities hundreds of miles from the front line. Moscow has absorbed such attacks with increasing frequency since the invasion began, though civilian casualties in the capital remain relatively rare. The Wildberries facility, if confirmed as a target, suggests Ukraine is aiming at commercial infrastructure that supports the Russian economy alongside military supply chains.

The pattern is instructive. Modern war is fought in warehouses as much as on battlefields - the side that can sustain logistics wins the long game. Ukraine's limited strike capacity is being directed not at symbolic targets but at the machinery of supply: the places where goods are stored, sorted and moved. Whether that is militarily effective or merely expensive theatre will depend on how many such facilities exist and how quickly they can be replaced.

What to watch: whether these strikes are isolated incidents or the opening of a sustained campaign against Russian logistics hubs. The next few weeks will show if Ukraine has the capacity to make this a pattern or if Moscow can harden targets faster than they can be hit.