Ukraine hits 16 Wildberries warehouses in 2 weeks
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- Ukraine struck 16 Wildberries warehouse and logistics facilities across Russia and Russian-held Crimea in under two weeks, starting July 18 in Elektrostal and Tambov region and extending to St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Stavropol, Volgograd, the Penza and Udmurtia regions, Simferopol, and Zelenodolsk.
- President Zelenskyy said the attacked facilities supplied gear and technical components to Russia's military; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that July 21, calling them civilian targets — and an AP search of Wildberries found listings for body armor, helmets, and radios marked 'tested in the SVO' or 'SVO fighters' choice.'
- Wildberries, launched in 2004 by Tatyana Kim, accounts for 52% of all Russian online orders with 500,000 to 800,000 sellers, per Data Insight analyst Sergei Semko; founder Kim's fortune was estimated at $8.1 billion by Forbes Russia in April.
- Semko estimated the struck facilities in Moscow, Tambov, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions made up about 12% of Wildberries' total warehouse space, with potential goods losses as high as $3 billion.
- Wildberries changed its seller policy in July to exempt itself from liability for stock damaged by 'force majeure' including drone attacks, though it has distributed two rounds of reimbursements to more than 97,000 businesses after the strikes.
- Macro-Advisory CEO Chris Weafer said the attacks likely cause only 'relatively slight' damage to Russia's $80–90 billion online retail sector, but are aimed at undermining public morale — arguing that Russians previously saw the war as 'something that was happening a long way off' but are now questioning 'why is it happening and the conflict lasting so long.'
Why it matters: Russia's online retail sector — worth roughly $80–90 billion — had been a rare bright spot for small businesses, and the destruction of up to 12% of Wildberries' warehouse space hits 500,000–800,000 sellers who lost inventory with no guaranteed compensation, as Wildberries inserted a force-majeure clause into its seller policy just before the attacks began.
