On October 13, Russian military forces launched a series of ten attacks on a facility in Khmelnytsky, Ukraine, igniting five large fires across the complex. Throughout the day, around 30 drones hovered above the warehouse, hindering firefighters’ efforts to control the flames and conduct rescue operations.
In an official statement, Epicenter, a major Ukrainian retailer known for bathroom fixtures and ceramic tiles, reported significant losses, stating, “The enemy has achieved its objective: fire destroyed about 85 percent of the goods stored inside. Approximately 30 drones in the sky prevented us from extinguishing the fire. Most importantly, all our people are alive.” Epicenter sponsors the Warsaw Project volleyball club.
The attacked warehouse was crucial for the operations of Epicenter’s entire retail network, supplying 33 stores and providing millions of Ukrainians access to household goods, building materials, and food. This facility was the last major warehouse in operation for the company after the destruction of two other large logistics centers in Kyiv and its region.
Epicenter noted that the implications of the attack extend far beyond the loss of inventory, severely disrupting its logistics network and creating immense financial losses that threaten the wages and jobs of thousands of employees. The company emphasized that the effects have nullified months and years of hard work by its teams. Since 2022, Epicenter has lost over 30 facilities due to ongoing conflicts.
The bombardment of the warehouse in Khmelnytsky is part of a broader campaign targeting the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine’s retail sector. Just one day prior, on October 12, Russian forces struck an Epicenter store in Dnipro. On October 9, a facility in Chernihiv was destroyed for the second time, having been rebuilt after previous damage in February 2022. In August and September 2023, fires affected stores in Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, where a major fire destroyed a hypermarket. Additionally, two shopping centers in Odesa were also hit by Russian attacks. To date, over 30 Epicenter sites have been damaged or completely destroyed as a result of the assaults. On the same day as the attacks on Epicenter, Russian forces also targeted other industrial sites in the Khmelnytsky and Shepetivka regions.
