Ukraine hits more Wildberries facilities, continuing nearly two weeks of strikes on online retailer
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- Ukraine has hit 16 Wildberries logistics facilities in under two weeks, starting with strikes July 18 in Elektrostal east of Moscow and the Tambov region, with nine people killed and scores injured across attacks spanning western and southern Russia plus Crimea.
- Wildberries, founded in 2004 by Tatyana Kim (Forbes Russia estimates her fortune at $8.1 billion), controls 52% of all Russian online orders and serves between 500,000 and 800,000 sellers, according to Data Insight analyst Sergei Semko.
- Semko estimated the damaged facilities in the Moscow, Tambov, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions account for roughly 12% of Wildberries' total warehouse space, with stored-goods losses potentially reaching $3 billion.
- Zelensky said the facilities supplied gear and components to Russia's military; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied this July 21, accusing Ukraine of striking civilian targets, while an AP search found Wildberries listings marked "tested in the SVO" and "SVO fighters' choice."
- Wildberries changed its seller policy in July to exempt itself from liability for inventory damaged by drone attacks as a "force majeure," but the company distributed reimbursement to over 97,000 businesses, prioritizing "the smallest and most vulnerable entrepreneurs."
- Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd., said the warehouse strikes cause only "relatively slight" damage to Russia's broader economy but target "public morale," noting Russian complacency about the war has shifted this year as attacks on oil refineries and now Wildberries bring the conflict closer to home.
- Russian small businesses are absorbing the strikes amid "almost a perfect storm" of increased taxes, a fuel crisis and more regulatory hurdles this year, with sellers tearfully recounting inventory losses on social media.
Why it matters: Ukraine's campaign is explicitly aimed at morale rather than economic knockout: Weafer says the strikes are unlikely to destabilize Russia's stagnant but stable economy, yet by hitting a retailer that handles 52% of the country's online orders and serves up to 800,000 small sellers, Kyiv is forcing ordinary Russians — and the small entrepreneurs who depend on Wildberries — to feel the war's cost in ways that attacks on distant oil refineries could not.
