Attacks on warehouses of Russia's largest online retailer escalate economic war, as Kyiv claims the facilities are legitimate military targets because they supply Russian forces.
Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries distribution centers in Elektrostal, Moscow Region, and Kotovsk, Tambov Region, during the weekend of July 24-25, and new attacks on warehouses in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk, as well as the Wildberries logistics center in Yekaterinburg, were recorded on the night of July 24-25. According to regional officials, seven people were killed in Kotovsk, one in Elektrostal, and at least one in the latest attacks in southern Russia, reports Večernji list citing CNN.
Kyiv acknowledged carrying out the attacks on Wildberries warehouses and emphasized that the facilities are legitimate military targets because they supply Russian forces on the front line in Ukraine. The Russian government denies that Wildberries supplies the Russian military. A search for the term 'military supplies' on the Wildberries website on Thursday returned more than 78,000 items, including body armor, first aid kits, drone equipment, and FPV goggles, according to Večernji list.
A second wave of attacks, which according to Večernji list occurred early on Wednesday, July 22, hit logistics warehouses in Krasnodar Krai and Stavropol Krai, and state media in Voronezh Oblast reported that a drone threat forced the closure of a Wildberries warehouse there. On the night of July 24-25, the Ukrainian Telegram channel Operativno ZSU reported that two Wildberries warehouses in Krasnodar and one in Nevinnomyssk were hit. At the same time, drones also attacked the Wildberries center in Yekaterinburg, where vehicles parked in front of the logistics facility were damaged, reports NOELREPORTS. In Belgorod, that same night, logistics warehouses, the Yuzhnaya electrical substation, and the Luch cogeneration plant were attacked, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Wednesday on the situation faced by affected entrepreneurs.
"The situation is indeed difficult given the losses suffered by both the company itself and small and medium-sized enterprises,"Peskov said, as reported by Večernji list citing CNN. Wildberries founder Tatiana Kim told business daily RBC that the company is negotiating with Russian authorities on tax relief:
"It is not about a complete abolition of taxes, but about the possibility of deferrals or similar arrangements."
Forbes Russia cited preliminary estimates indicating that Wildberries lost up to 9 percent of its warehouse space, and restoration could cost the company up to 33 billion rubles, equivalent to about $421 million. Seller merchandise losses could amount to at least 150 billion rubles, or about $1.9 billion, according to the same source. Business daily Kommersant estimated that the combined attacks hit about 10 percent of the company's total logistics capacity. One anonymous clothing merchant wrote on the Threads platform:
"About 40 percent of our business went up in smoke."
The attacks on Wildberries, which is often compared to Amazon in Russia, intensify the Ukrainian economic war campaign that has already included waves of drone strikes on oil refineries. Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian social media influencer and former official, wrote on X that Russians should direct their anger at Putin:
"Russians have learned that their country is waging war. The next step is for them to understand who is responsible for all the damage inflicted on Russia."Gerashchenko added that Wildberries is no longer just an online marketplace because it sells weapons, body armor, and drone components used on the battlefield, which is why Kyiv considers these facilities legitimate military targets.
