Since mid-July 2026, Kyiv has systematically targeted the logistics centers of Wildberries, an online giant holding a tenth of Russia's retail market. Tatyana Kim condemns the strikes as terrorism, but an investigation shows the platform also sold military equipment.
Since mid-July 2026, Ukrainian forces have begun dismantling the logistics network of Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, opening a completely new chapter in the air campaign against Russia. The target of the attacks has become Tatyana Kim, the company's co-founder and Russia's richest woman, with at least 23 major warehouse facilities destroyed across the country. Nine company employees lost their lives in these strikes.
The intent of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not hidden: to bring the horrors of war directly to the doorsteps of ordinary Russian citizens, thereby increasing internal pressure on Vladimir Putin's government. Kyiv asserts that Wildberries, with a share of about 10 percent of total Russian retail, is a legitimate military target because its logistics supply Russian troops on the front lines.
The scale of the damage is enormous. Consulting firm Data Insight estimates that the company has lost a third of its warehouse space, with the value of goods burned or destroyed reaching approximately $5.9 billion. Analysts describe the situation as a systematic erasure of key logistics points. "The enemy is violently and methodically destroying one warehouse after another, day after day," they stated.
Panic among employees has led to a wave of resignations, and thousands of independent entrepreneurs who sold their goods exclusively through Wildberries are now recording massive financial losses. Many of them have already begun moving their operations to Ozon, Russia's second-largest e-commerce platform. Ozon has so far not been targeted by Ukrainian missiles, largely thanks to its decentralized logistics network, which does not offer such concentrated targets.
Fifty-year-old Tatyana Kim, of Russian-Korean descent, began her business story modestly, working as an English teacher. In 2004, she launched Wildberries with her then-husband Vladislav Bakalchuk, but the real expansion came after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the mass withdrawal of Western brands from the Russian market.
Last year (2025), Kim carried out a controversial merger with a major Russian marketing company, a move that, according to The New York Times, had direct support from the Kremlin. Bakalchuk publicly called the act a hostile takeover and corporate robbery. Tensions escalated to the point where he, accompanied by armed Chechens, stormed the company's Moscow headquarters. In the ensuing armed clash, two people were killed and seven wounded, and the couple soon after finalized their divorce proceedings.
Although Kim firmly claims that the company's rules are unequivocal and that arms trade is strictly prohibited, an investigation by The New York Times reveals a completely different reality. On the platform, one could easily purchase military FPV drones, fiber optic cables for missile guidance, and even unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with explosive ejection systems.
In the review sections and customer questions, discounts on bulk purchases were openly discussed, with buyers precisely specifying which Russian military units they were acquiring equipment for. Sellers confirmed without hesitation that the items could be used in the "special military operation." It was these publicly available comments, including those boasting how the drones successfully "slice up Ukrainians," that sealed the fate of the warehouses, concludes The New York Times.
The billionaire has strongly condemned the attacks, calling them "terrorist strikes attempting to provoke panic and shock" and insisting that her platform distributes exclusively civilian goods, similar to Amazon or China's Alibaba. Meanwhile, to save her business empire, she is hastily restructuring the logistics infrastructure, while the Russian government prepares an emergency aid package for affected sellers in the form of tax breaks.
