Ukraine strikes Russian retailer Wildberries to choke military supply

Ukrainian drones attacked logistics hubs belonging to Wildberries in the south-western cities of Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk overnight, injuring 15 workers. The strikes follow a similar attack on Saturday that killed eight people and injured 62 at other company facilities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the targeted logistics hubs were "involved in providing the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment and other gear." This frames Russia's largest e-commerce platform not just as a civilian business, but as a critical node in the military supply chain.

Serhii Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, said the primary rationale is to disrupt the flow of dual-use goods to the front. "The primary rationale for striking Wildberries' warehouses is to disrupt Russian logistics and the supply of dual-use goods, critical electronics, sanctioned goods and the like to the Russian army and Russian arms manufacturers," he said.

Hitting a retailer of this scale carries broader economic implications for Moscow. "The collateral damage from such strikes could also have a serious impact on the Russian economy, as well as a psychological effect on Russian society and, likely, on continued support for the war," Kuzan added. He noted that Russian volunteers have previously used the Wildberries website to buy military equipment.

Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim condemned the strikes on her staff. "There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on us, who are simply doing our jobs," she wrote on Telegram. "But these situations demonstrate the most important thing: we must continue to do what we do for the benefit of people."

The overnight offensive extended well beyond retail infrastructure. Zelensky reported strikes on an oil depot, a tanker, and four cargo ships belonging to Russia's shadow fleet in the Black and Azov Seas. Russia operates this unsanctioned fleet specifically to bypass international restrictions on its oil exports.

The broader Krasnodar region sustained heavy damage from what Governor Veniamin Kondratyev called a "massive attack". Drone debris killed one employee at a separate company in Armavir and sparked a fire at an oil depot. Debris also struck two apartment buildings in Krasnodar city and two private homes in the village of Dinskaya, though no further injuries were reported.