Ukraine hits Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg and Crimea in third major drone strike this week

Wave of attacks

Ukrainian forces launched a fresh wave of drone strikes against Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, overnight on 24 July. Logistics centres in Novosaratovka and Shushary on the outskirts of St. Petersburg were hit, along with a sorting centre in Simferopol on the occupied Crimean peninsula. Videos shared on social media showed drones diving into warehouses, followed by explosions, massive fires and thick columns of smoke. The attack is the third major strike on Wildberries facilities within a week, following a weekend assault on sites in the Moscow capital region and Tambov Oblast, and a Thursday strike that hit a 150,000-square-metre distribution centre in Krasnodar and another warehouse in Nevinnomyssk. Russia's defence ministry said 571 drones were intercepted overnight, including 59 over the Leningrad region. Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg suspended operations temporarily, affecting around 50 departures.

Wildberries' scale and alleged military role

Wildberries operates a network of more than 220,000 pickup points across Russia and several neighbouring countries, with 5.2 million square metres of warehouse space and over 20 million daily transactions. The company, sometimes called Russia's Amazon, is one of the country's largest employers. Ukraine claims the retailer's logistics hubs store sanctioned electronics and drone components used by Russian forces at the front. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in late June that a 40-day operation would target such infrastructure to disrupt military supply chains and increase pressure on the Kremlin to negotiate. Ukrainian officials also argue that crippling Wildberries could destroy up to 6% of Russian GDP.

Casualties and damage

Regional authorities reported at least two dead and five injured in Simferopol, while three people were injured in the St. Petersburg area. These figures add to earlier casualties: a strike on a Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal, Moscow region, last week left one person dead and 37 injured, and the Thursday attacks in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk injured eight. Wildberries founder Tatiana Kim acknowledged the attacks on Telegram but said there were no injuries and that some goods and space had been secured. The newspaper Kommersant reported that about 7% of Wildberries' total warehouse capacity is now unusable. Sellers on the platform complained on social media that the company was offering only minimal compensation for destroyed inventory.

I don't know what to do now. This year has been difficult for entrepreneurs overall, and the fire was the death blow.

Russian response

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected Ukraine's justification and described the strikes as "terror against civilian objects". Russian investigators opened terrorism cases following the attacks. Leningrad governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that a fire had broken out at the Wildberries site in Novosaratovka and that a poultry factory warehouse in Sinyavino was also heavily damaged. Crimea's Russian-appointed head Sergey Aksyonov reported the two deaths and five injuries on the peninsula.

Terror against civilian objects.

Economic pressure and seller discontent

Wildberries is burdened with 14.5 billion euros in debt, according to Novaya Gazeta, and the destruction of infrastructure that has not yet been paid off poses an existential threat if attacks continue. The company confirmed damage at both St. Petersburg sites and the evacuation of the Simferopol facility. Some entrepreneurs said the company had previously refused to let them retrieve their goods from warehouses. The combination of physical destruction, compensation disputes and mounting debt is squeezing a retailer that handles a significant share of Russian e-commerce, while Kyiv signals it may also target competitor Ozon, which relies more on smaller local depots.