- More than 15 logistics centers of Wildberries have been targeted by Ukrainian drones in past 2 weeks
- Campaign marks expansion of Ukraine’s deep-strike strategy, moving beyond attacks on Russia’s military and energy infrastructure to include logistics networks
Ukraine has intensified drone strikes on logistics facilities operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online marketplace, in a campaign that began in mid-July and has spread across several Russian regions.
Kyiv has accused the e-commerce retailer of playing a role in Moscow's military supply chain, while Moscow and Wildberries insist the facilities are purely civilian. The company has condemned the Ukrainian attacks as "terrorist" acts.
Since July 18, Ukrainian drones have targeted more than 15 Wildberries logistics centers in Russia, including facilities in the Moscow, Tambov, Leningrad, Krasnodar, Volgograd and Stavropol regions, as well as in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
1- What is Wildberries and why is it important?
Wildberries is Russia’s largest online retailer and marketplace, often described as the country’s equivalent of Amazon because of its extensive network of warehouses and distribution centers.
The company operates about 200 logistics facilities across Russia. It expanded rapidly by building an extensive logistics network of warehouses and distribution centers across Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Georgia.
As of 2024, the company accounted for 47% of all marketplaces in Russia, occupying a dominant position alongside Ozon (35.5%). The company reported gross merchandise value of 6.1 trillion rubles ($76 billion) in 2025, up 49% from the previous year, with net profit reaching 175 billion rubles ($2 billion).
Chief Executive Officer Tatyana Kim, formerly Bakalchuk, ranked 18th on Forbes' 2025 list of the world's richest self-made women, with an estimated fortune of $4.6 billion.
2- Why is Ukraine targeting Wildberries warehouses?
According to Kyiv, Wildberries warehouses are not purely civilian infrastructure and are used to support Russia's military supply chain, including the movement or storage of equipment and components used in the war. Moscow and Wildberries deny the claim.
Ukraine's concerns about Wildberries predate the beginning of the war with Russia in 2022.
Kyiv imposed sanctions on Wildberries and its founders in 2021, accusing the platform of selling Russian military uniforms, products bearing militaristic symbols and anti-Ukrainian literature. The company said such products had long been sold in Ukraine by other foreign retailers.
According to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the warehouses targeted by Ukrainian drones were involved in providing Russian troops with drone components and navigation equipment.
"These are Russian logistics facilities, specifically warehouses used to supply war materiel: navigation equipment, components for drone production, and other supplies for the Russian army," Zelenskyy said.
The Kremlin has rejected the accusations, saying Wildberries' logistics centers are not used for providing military supplies to the Russian army.
"The Kyiv regime continues to strike at peaceful targets; this is the terrorist essence of the Kyiv regime," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
CEO Kim also condemned the attacks, saying they had “no logic, common sense, or rationality.”
3- When did the campaign begin and which facilities have been hit?
Russian authorities said Ukrainian drone strikes on major warehouses in Elektrostal near Moscow and Kotovsk in the Tambov region on July 18 killed eight people.
Wildberries said it paid more than 40 million rubles (about $508,000) in compensation to victims of the attacks.
Further strikes hit facilities in Krasnodar, Nevinnomyssk, Voronezh, the Leningrad region, Volgograd and the Samara region through early August.
4- How much damage has Wildberries suffered?
Estimates of the damage vary. Open-source analysis cited in Russian media estimated that, by July 23, attacks had affected about 552,000 square meters (136 acres) of Wildberries warehouse capacity, equivalent to roughly 10% of the company’s logistics network.
According to Ukrainian media estimates, as of Aug. 3, around 17 of Wildberries’ 26 largest logistics hubs were out of service, representing roughly 65% of its largest facilities. With about 200 logistics sites overall, these hubs account for approximately 8% of the company’s total facilities.
Sergey Semko, a leading analyst at the research agency Data Insight, said as of Aug. 2, attacks damaged 893,000-1.154 million square meters (221-285 acres) of Wildberries warehouse space, or 17.2-22.2% of the publicly declared 5.2 million square meters (1,285 acres) logistics infrastructure.
Russian media reports that although some Wildberries warehouses have resumed operations, the potential losses of sellers, according to analysts, may amount to 214.9-279.6 billion rubles (approximately $2.7-3.5 billion).
5- What is Ukraine trying to achieve with the attacks?
Ukraine says the campaign aims to disrupt logistics networks that can support Russian forces while imposing economic costs by damaging warehouses, destroying inventories and disrupting commercial activity.
Unlike attacks on military bases or oil refineries, strikes against a company used daily by millions of Russian consumers can make the consequences of the war more visible inside Russia. The attacks have already caused losses for merchants whose inventories were stored in Wildberries facilities and disrupted parts of the company’s distribution network.
The campaign marks an expansion of Ukraine’s deep-strike strategy, moving beyond attacks on Russia’s military and energy infrastructure to include logistics networks that Kyiv says are vital to sustaining the Russian economy and war effort.
