Wildberries, one of Russia’s largest online marketplaces, has come into the spotlight following new attacks in which unmanned aerial vehicles reportedly belonging to Ukraine targeted its logistics centers. Employees were evacuated after a fire broke out at the warehouse in the Vladimir region, while the company redirected product acceptance, order preparation, and delivery operations to alternative facilities. In its initial statement, the company reported that there were no fatalities. Regional Governor Aleksandr Avdeyev stated that a young man suffered a minor head injury and a nearby woman sustained a minor leg injury, while Lao Dong reported that three people were injured in the attack.
Attacks on Wildberries Warehouses Spread to Different Regions
Since mid-July, approximately 20 facilities belonging to the company have been targeted in different regions of Russia and in annexed Crimea. The chain of attacks began on July 18 with the facilities in Elektrostal in the Moscow region and Kotovsk in the Tambov region. Subsequent attacks extended to centers around Saint Petersburg and in Simferopol, Krasnodar, Volgograd, and Samara. It was reported that eight people were killed and approximately 90 people were injured in the initial attacks. Despite the fires and evacuations at Wildberries facilities, operations were restarted at some centers.
Fire at the Samara Warehouse, Five Deaths in Different Regions
The Wildberries attacks continued on the night of August 2. The warehouse in the Samara region was hit by a drone attack. A fire broke out at the facility, located approximately 800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, while no fatalities were reported in the incident. On the same night, attacks carried out in other regions of Russia killed two people in Saratov and three people in Udmurtia. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that air defense systems shot down 635 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine, meanwhile, stated that Russia attacked with 133 drones and that 24 of them reached their targets.
Wildberries Sellers’ Losses Could Rise to $3.5 Billion
According to estimates based on Data Insight data, the total losses of sellers on the platform could be between 215 billion rubles and 280 rubles, or approximately $2.7 billion to $3.5 billion. The damaged warehouse area is estimated to be between 893,000 and 1.15 million square meters. This size corresponds to 17.2 percent to 22.2 percent of the 5.2 million square meters of logistics infrastructure publicly disclosed by the parent company RWB. It is stated that the cost of rebuilding Wildberries’ infrastructure could reach 62.5 billion to 80.8 billion rubles, or $1 billion.
Compensation Payments Began with Small-Scale Sellers
The loss estimate was calculated based on the approximately 35 billion rubles in compensation paid to sellers following the fire at the 112,000-square-meter warehouse in Shushary in 2024. Wildberries announced that, as of July 28, it had paid more than 40 million rubles to affected sellers. It was reported that the initial payments were made to 88,000 sellers with the lowest turnover, while the second round was directed at 97,000 entrepreneurs. Some sellers said that the payments covered only a small portion of their losses and that the calculation method had not been clearly disclosed. The compensation plan for medium- and large-scale sellers has not yet been explained to the public in detail.
Deliveries Continue Through Alternative Logistics Centers
Some facilities in Kotovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Sarapul have reportedly resumed operations. Wildberries stated that it continues its e-commerce and retail operations by redirecting product acceptance and customer orders from the centers affected by the attacks to other warehouses. The Russian government also asked the relevant ministries, the central bank, and business representatives to prepare support measures for affected entrepreneurs by August 10.
