Ukraine Strikes Ozon Warehouses as Putin Threatens Corporate Seizures

Ukrainian forces launched a series of drone strikes targeting Russian e-commerce and military infrastructure, hitting six warehouses belonging to Ozon, Russia's second-largest online retailer. The attacks occurred in Makhachkala, Enem, Adygeysk, and Nevinnomyssk, causing fires and operational halts that led to a nearly 30 percent drop in Ozon shares.

In response to these vulnerabilities, Vladimir Putin issued a presidential decree granting the Russian state power to seize control of companies in the logistics, fuel, and energy sectors if they fail to protect or repair critical facilities. This move follows additional Ukrainian strikes on a rocket fuel plant in Kamensky, a MiG-29 fighter plane, and two Black Sea vessels. A separate drone attack on August 21 forced the shutdown of the primary CDU-4 unit at the Perm oil refinery.

On the diplomatic front, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham met with a coalition of the willing in Kyiv to urge allies to increase the supply of Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the release of ten Ukrainian prisoners of war via Belarus.