Russia on fire as Ukraine launches huge strike hitting country's 'Amazon' and port

Another giant logistics centre for Russia’s Amazon - Wildberries - has been destroyed today in a massive Ukrainian drone strike.

The attack on Ryazan, 115 miles southeast of Moscow, also ignited a key oil refinery which was already severely damaged from previous attacks.

Drones also hit the strategic port of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov in southern Russia, where a woman was killed. Large fires were reported in Kerch close to the Crimean end of the strategic bridge linking the Black Sea peninsula to Russia.

The wave of Ukrainian attacks came hours after Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky were pictured smiling together after meeting in the US. Trump hailed his White House meeting with Zelensky which “went very well” as the Ukrainians sought urgent new air defence protection.

Thick black smoke could be seen pouring from the Wildberries warehouse, the fifth largest in Russia. The roof was collapsing and an evacuation was ordered from the distribution hub.

Ukraine has attacked 11 Wildberries logistics facilities this month, of which seven have been destroyed or badly damaged causing billions of pounds worth of damage. Six people were reported injured in the most recent strike.

Ukraine has claimed that the massive retailer supplies the Russian military. The company is now urgently seeking warehouse facilities in neighbouring Kazakhstan as its business model is under threat with thousands of supplies facing ruin.

Drones also hit the strategic port of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov in southern Russia, where a woman was killed. Large fires were reported in Kerch close to the Crimean end of the strategic bridge linking the Black Sea peninsula to Russia.

Ukraine’s strikes came after the US Senate took a first step in overwhelmingly approving draconian sanctions against the Putin regime, with 86 votes in favour.

Zelensky said both he and Trump wanted an end to the war - but Putin “doesn’t want”. He said: “Putin, he gives absolutely opposite messages, he wants a big mobilisation of 500,000 new soldiers from the very beginning of autumn…

“They are crazy, they lose 30,000 soldiers per month … So now initiative not in the hands of Putin.” The Kremlin was forced to scramble to deny it wants up to half a million soldiers in a mass mobilisation this autumn, to be announced after parliamentary elections.

Amid rising Russian opposition to the war, Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev - a former president and prime minister - was sent out to say this was a “lying provocation” by the Kremlin’s enemies.

“This is part of the propaganda campaign ahead of the elections,” he said. “Naturally, they are trying to destabilise the situation in our country and create negative sentiment…..

“I want to stress once again that there is absolutely no need for mobilisation. This is a lie spread by the enemy, which is itself experiencing a shortage of manpower.

“There is simply no one left there to fight. They round up their own citizens like pigs, beat them and throw them into buses. That is what all this is connected with.”

But Western and Ukrainian intelligence suggests Putin is seeking a massive new draft to counter the horrific losses he is experiencing on the frontline.

There is also increasingly vocal opposition to the war, and Zelensky claims Putin’s inner circle is split on carrying on or ending the war.