Russian Retailer Wildberries Says Ukraine Struck 3 More Warehouses

Major Russian online retailer Wildberries said on July 24 that three of its warehouses were targeted by Ukrainian drones overnight, bringing the number of warehouses hit in the past week to eight.

Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim said the latest attacks targeted warehouses in St. Petersburg, in the surrounding ​Leningrad Oblast, and Simferopol in Crimea.

Kim said in a statement that they were able to save some of the premises and stock. All warehouses were swiftly evacuated and “according to preliminary reports, there were no casualties.”

“All of our efforts are now ​focused on redistributing goods across our warehouses to ensure more efficient stock turnover and the economic stability of our partners,” she said.

The strike is the fourth on the retailer since last weekend, with a total of eight warehouses being destroyed, accounting for more than 10 percent of Wildberries’ logistics capacity. The first attack on the warehouses on July 18 killed eight workers.

Wildberries is seen as Russia’s answer to Amazon. Together with its main competitor, Ozon, and smaller rivals, the retailers sell goods and services equivalent to 8.5 percent of Russia’s gross domestic product.

This week, the European Union sanctioned the banking arm of Wildberries as part of its 21st round of sanctions against Moscow. The EU said in its July 23 council decision that it was sanctioned because the banking sector provides substantial revenue to the Russian government.

The strikes are seen as part of Ukraine’s widening offensive against the Russian economy and supply chains.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the targets as hubs responsible for supplying Moscow’s military with components for weaponry, such as for drones.

The Kremlin has denied that ​Wildberries handles military supplies.

Military Targets Struck Overnight

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said in a July 24 statement that it had carried out strikes on a number of fuel and military infrastructure sites in Russia and Crimea, notably on refineries, oil pumping stations, and radar stations.

“These special operations are carried out in fulfillment of the tasks set by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reduce the military-economic potential of the Russian Federation,” the SBU said.

Some of the facilities targeted included the Novospassky mini-refinery in the Ulyanovsk Oblast, some 560 miles from the front line, and the Nebo-U long-range radar station at the Belbek military airfield in Crimea.

Strikes Against Kyiv

Russia conducted its own targeted strikes against Ukraine overnight.

Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on July 24 that Russian missile strikes in the Kyiv Oblast resulted in the deaths of six people and injuries to dozens of others.

Bomb strikes in Sloviansk also killed five people, injuring nine others.

“The Russians damaged ordinary residential buildings, the consulate building, and cars,” said Zelenskyy.

“Brutal attacks on people, for which the Russians must be held accountable” he said.

Both Moscow and Kyiv say they do not deliberately target civilian populations.

Reuters contributed to this report.