The online marketplace Wildberries seeks enough steel mesh to cover 67 soccer fields. It could be intended to shield warehouses in Russia from Ukrainian drone attacks, The Bell reports.

In early August, the Wildberries online marketplace issued a call for bids to furnish galvanized steel mesh for its logistics centers across eight Russian regions, as reported by The Bell. While the purpose of the mesh was not explicitly mentioned in the tender, an industrial company insider told The Bell that it may have been intended to shield warehouses from potential drone attacks.

"Surrounding the entire site with a metal fence is still the most popular option because it is fairly effective, involves no risks, and is not subject to any regulatory requirements — other than building regulations," the insider explained. According to The Bell, Wildberries intends to purchase 478,000 square meters of mesh, enough to cover 67 soccer fields.

As of now, contractors have submitted bids in only three of the eight regions, with prices ranging from 154 to 474 rubles per square meter. Based on these bids, The Bell estimated the total cost of the full purchase for Wildberries could range between 73.6 million and 226.5 million rubles. At Meduza, we prioritize transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom.

This story was written by one of our human journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model designed to adhere to our stringent editorial standards. Every draft undergoes review by a Meduza editor before publication. Should you identify any errors in this translation, please reach out to us at reports@meduza.io. For access to Meduza's exclusive English-language content, please subscribe to our newsletter.