Ukraine strikes Wildberries warehouses, hitting Russia's richest woman

Ukraine has escalated its long-range campaign by targeting the warehouses of Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce company, owned by Tatyana Kim, the country's richest woman. The strikes, which began in mid-July, have damaged or destroyed at least 23 facilities, killed nine employees, and injured over 60, according to multiple sources. The attacks have caused losses exceeding €5.2 billion, affecting thousands of small merchants who stored goods in the warehouses Source: El Español.

The campaign

Kiev describes this as a "long-range sanctions" campaign aimed at pressuring Russian public opinion against the war ahead of legislative elections. Wildberries, which accounts for about 10% of Russian retail sales, is a legitimate target because it supplies goods to Russian soldiers, Ukraine argues Source: Infobae. The strikes mark the first time Kiev has aggressively targeted a private company, bringing the war closer to ordinary Russians Source: Infobae.

The impact

Wildberries has lost up to a third of its warehouse space, with merchandise valued at up to 480 billion rubles ($5.9 billion) destroyed, according to Data Insight Source: Infobae. Consumer spending on non-food items has plummeted amid the attacks Source: Infobae. Kim condemned the strikes as "terrorist attacks" with "no logic, sense, or rationality," saying the enemy seeks to "pressure, destabilize, and provoke panic" Source: El Español, Infobae.

Background

Kim co-founded Wildberries in 2004 with her ex-husband Vladislav Bakalchuk, building it from a Moscow apartment into a logistics giant with over 220,000 pickup points Source: El Español. Her fortune is estimated at €6.1 billion Source: El Mundo. The company's future depends on how long the attacks continue and how quickly Kim can adapt logistics Source: Infobae.