Retail in the line of fire: why Ukraine attacks Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries

Ukraine wants to hit the Russians where it hurts: in their shopping carts. Over the course of a few days, Ukrainian drones attacked several distribution centers belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. With these attacks, Kyiv is striking at the army’s supply lines, thousands of businesses, and the daily lives of millions of Russians all at once.

Retail landscape disrupted

In recent days, fires have destroyed Wildberries warehouses around Moscow and in the Tambov, Krasnodar, and Stavropol regions. Officially, Ukraine claims that the logistics centers were distributing military goods, but there is no independent confirmation of this. However, it is true that consumers (and volunteers on the front lines) can order items such as bulletproof vests and drone parts through the platform.