Wildberries Loses Goods Worth a Major Russian Region’s Annual Budget
Ukrainian strikes have severely disrupted Wildberries, destroying or damaging more than 20 warehouses and goods worth an estimated Hr.480 billion, while Russian sellers and pickup-point operators face mounting losses.
Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries has suffered significant losses worth around 480 billion rubles ($5.7 billion) due to Ukrainian drone strikes on its warehouse network, as reported by Data Insight analysts to The New York Times. The attacks, which began in mid-July, have damaged or destroyed up to one-third of its warehouse space, with at least 1.18 million square meters (292 acres) affected according to Reuters.
This loss is comparable to the annual budgets of major Russian regions like Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Ukrainian officials argue that Wildberries is a legitimate military target due to the sale of goods used by the Russian military, despite the company denying any supply to the armed forces. The Russian government is currently preparing support measures for affected sellers, such as tax breaks and loan holidays, but direct compensation for destroyed goods is not planned.
Wildberries has also voluntarily compensated tens of thousands of sellers and introduced limited insurance coverage for drone attacks. The disruption has impacted consumer spending, with SberIndex reporting a decline in non-food goods spending through marketplaces in recent weeks. Industry analysts suggest that some Wildberries sellers may be moving to competitors like Ozon due to the ongoing disruptions.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
