Ukraine targets Wildberries hubs in strikes on Russian supply chains

Ukraine has expanded its drone campaign against Russian logistics, striking five facilities linked to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, between Saturday and Wednesday, according to CNBC. The attacks broaden Kyiv’s pressure on Russia’s domestic supply network after months of strikes on oil depots and refineries.

Wildberries, often compared with Amazon because of its central role in Russian e-commerce and delivery infrastructure, was founded in 2004 and employs about 48,000 people, CNBC reported. Its logistics hubs handle the movement of goods between merchants, warehouses and consumers, making them a high-value target for any effort to slow commercial flows or raise operating costs across the Russian economy.

Tatyana Kim, the company’s owner and Russia’s wealthiest woman, said Wednesday on Telegram that Wildberries logistics sites in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions had been hit overnight. Kim said one person was killed and several others were injured in those strikes.

Russian authorities said earlier attacks on Wildberries warehouses in central Russia four days before killed eight people, according to CNBC. A photograph distributed by Getty Images showed smoke rising from a fire at a Wildberries logistics complex in Elektrostal, outside Moscow, on July 18.

Kyiv links warehouses to military supply

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the targeted hubs were involved in supplying Russian forces with drone components, navigation equipment and other military-related parts. That assertion frames the strikes as part of Ukraine’s broader effort to disrupt both battlefield supply and Russia’s wartime economy.

Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told CNBC by email that the attacks serve two aims: damaging Russia’s economy and reducing the capacity of its military-industrial system. He said the destruction of logistics infrastructure hurts the state budget because that budget helps finance Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Kuzan said Wildberries’ marketplace accounts for about 3% of Russia’s gross domestic product, citing Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He estimated the company’s losses at about $2.3 billion and said that amount exceeds the combined annual budgets of 53 Russian regions. In his assessment, those losses could contribute to bankruptcies among small and medium-sized companies that depend on the platform.

The mechanism is direct. Warehouses and distribution centers are the physical layer behind online retail: they receive inventory, sort goods, route parcels and feed regional delivery networks. Damage to those sites can delay shipments, strand merchant stock, raise insurance and repair costs, and force companies to reroute goods through less efficient channels.

Analysts expect logistics to remain exposed

Jimmy Rushton, an independent foreign policy analyst based in Ukraine, said on social media Wednesday that Kyiv had identified a new pressure point against Russia. He argued that continued attacks could threaten Wildberries’ viability because of the company’s importance to Russian domestic logistics.

Kuzan told CNBC that, given the size of the facilities hit and their role in serving both civilian commerce and military supply, he expects the tactic to continue. He said Ukraine can impose significant economic losses on Russia with comparatively limited resources.

Kim condemned the attacks in her Telegram statement, saying employees were doing their jobs and that the company would continue operating for customers. CNBC reported that the latest strikes mark a shift from earlier Ukrainian attacks focused heavily on energy infrastructure toward targets embedded in Russia’s broader commercial distribution system.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.