Ukraine’s ‘Deep-Strike’ Blitz Hits Russia’s Wildberries, Wiping Billions from Putin-Linked CEO

Ukraine’s expanding deep-strike campaign has again impacted Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. According to Reuters, a drone strike on an oil and petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan sparked a fire at a Wildberries facility. The company, often described as "Russia’s Amazon," stated the facility was evacuated and no goods were stored there at the time. The strike is part of a series of attacks that began on July 18, hitting centers in Kotovsk, Elektrostal, Krasnodar, and Nevinnomyssk. Ukrainian media outlets estimate the total losses incurred by Wildberries and its sellers at $6 billion to $8.5 billion. Kateryna Bondar, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the strikes as "kinetic sanctions enforcement" aimed at raising the economic cost of the war for Russia. Tatyana Kim, founder and CEO of Wildberries, labeled the strikes as "terrorist attacks," claiming they have harmed small businesses across 10 countries. Analysts suggest Kyiv views these warehouses as distribution nodes for dual-use military goods and channels for sanctions circumvention.