Ukrainian drones struck another major Wildberries warehouse near Moscow on Sunday, August 16, setting fire to the sprawling logistics complex as Kyiv continued a month-long series of attacks on Russia’s largest online retailer.
The warehouse in Koledino, near Podolsk and roughly 30 miles south of central Moscow, was hit during a much larger overnight Ukrainian attack across Russia.
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Video from the area showed smoke rising from the Wildberries complex as firefighting helicopters worked over the site.
An 83-year-old man was killed in the Podolsk strike, and several others were injured elsewhere in the Moscow region, according to regional Governor Andrei Vorobyov. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that 822 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across the country during the overnight assault.
The strikes were the latest to target Wildberries since Ukraine began its campaign against Russian logistics centers in July, expanding on its long-range campaign that at first focused on Russian oil and energy infrastructure.
Another Wildberries Warehouse Hit Near Moscow
The Koledino facility is part of the vast distribution network that has turned Wildberries into Russia’s dominant online marketplace – often referred to as Russia’s Amazon.
Wildberries accounts for roughly half of all online orders in Russia and operates around 100,000 pickup and distribution points nationwide. An estimated 500,000 to 800,000 sellers use the platform to reach customers across Russia’s 11 time zones.
That network was already huge for the Russian economy, but it became particularly important in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The war prompted many Western companies to simply leave the country, leaving Wildberries and some other Russian online marketplaces to replace those brands with products sourced from China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
Wildberries, in other words, has helped Russia weather the economic storm – and now, Wildberries is feeling the pressure.
Unlike some of its competitors, however, Wildberries has relied heavily on a relatively small number of enormous warehouses where merchandise from thousands of sellers is stored before being distributed across the country. And Ukraine is taking full advantage of that fact.
Ukraine Keeps Targeting Wildberries
The campaign against Wildberries began earlier this summer, when on July 18, Ukrainian drones first struck the Wildberries facilities in Elektrostal, east of Moscow, and in Russia’s southwestern Tambov region.
That Elektrostal warehouse was one of the company’s most important facilities.
It covered more than 360,000 square meters, and Wildberries described it as its largest and most technologically advanced logistics center.
The strikes in Tambov killed seven employees working night shifts in the warehouse, according to regional Governor Evgeniy Pervyshov, and another person was killed in the Elektrostal strikes. Dozens of people were also wounded.
Ukraine then pursued a campaign of regular strikes on Wildberries facilities across Russia, including as far away as Yekaterinburg, which is more than 1,200 miles from the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that seven of Wildberries’ 10 largest logistics centers have been forced to shut down, accounting for around 20% of the company’s total warehouse capacity.
Why Ukraine Says Wildberries Is A Target
Ukraine is making no attempt to hide the deliberate nature of its strikes against Wildberries.
The ministry described Koledino on Sunday as Wildberries’ largest facility by floor area and said both facilities had stopped operating after the strikes.
“On Sunday night, following a large-scale drone attack on the Moscow region, the company’s logistics hub in the Koledino Industrial Park ceased operations alongside the warehouse in Domodedovo. This was the largest Wildberries warehouse by area – 250,000 square meters,” a statement from the ministry reads.
Kyiv has said that its campaign against Wildberries is an effort to disrupt Russian war logistics, with Zelenskyy and senior officials arguing that the company is responsible for the sale and distribution of dual-use equipment.
The strikes not only disrupt the movement of products and equipment that support the war effort, but also serve the additional purpose of disrupting Russia’s fragile wartime economy.
For Ukraine, the strikes are win-win.
Wildberries Changes How It Operates
The constant Ukrainian strikes are causing major cumulative damage, forcing Wildberries to change its logistics model to survive.
On Monday, August 17, the company announced it was rearranging its supply chains and creating smaller “partner hubs” where merchandise can be stored, reducing its dependence on the enormous centralized warehouses recently targeted by Ukraine.
The strikes have also prompted a response from Moscow, with Russia’s Central Bank asking lenders to restructure loans held by small and medium-sized businesses whose merchandise has been destroyed in the attacks.
Meanwhile, Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim has promised affected sellers discounted storage and loans, along with other incentives to keep them trading on the platform.
About the Author: Jack Buckby
Jack Buckby is a British researcher and analyst specializing in defense and national security, based in New York. His work focuses on military capability, procurement, and strategic competition, and he produces and edits analysis for policy and defense audiences. He brings extensive editorial experience, with a career output spanning over 1,000 articles at 19FortyFive and National Security Journal, and has previously authored books and papers on extremism and deradicalization.
