Ukraine Expands Strikes on Wildberries Warehouses

Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, suspended operations at one of its warehouses following a Ukrainian drone attack overnight on Thursday. Kyiv is expanding its campaign against the company’s logistics infrastructure, which it says supports the Russian military. The Kremlin denies that Wildberries handles military supplies.

Ukraine has struck four of the company’s warehouses since the weekend. According to an analysis by the daily Kommersant based on publicly available data, the attacks have damaged approximately 10% of Wildberries’ logistics capacity, equivalent to about 552,000 square meters of warehouse space.

Alexander Gusev, governor of the Voronezh region, said the roof of a warehouse belonging to an online marketplace was damaged in the overnight attack, which also killed a three-year-old boy. He did not name the owner, but Wildberries later confirmed that its Voronezh warehouse would remain closed. The company subsequently said operations would resume “shortly.”

Wildberries, Ozon and their smaller rivals are at the heart of Russia’s consumer economy. Goods and services sold through their platforms are worth the equivalent of 8.5% of Russia’s GDP, while the companies employ about four million people. The Kremlin regards continued growth in the consumer sector as crucial to reviving Russia’s stagnating, war-focused economy.

(Reuters, Lud)