While the Russian marketplace sold goods marked «tested in the SMO», massive strikes by Ukrainian drones not only halted supplies to the RF army but also created an «ideal storm» for the aggressor’s small businesses.
Fire at Wildberries in Krasnodar / © Exilenova+
Large-scale fires at the warehouses of Russia’s largest marketplace, Wildberries, are becoming a new reality for the RF. While the Kremlin spoke of «strikes on civilians», it turned out that the platforms of the Russian equivalent of Amazon openly sold equipment for the occupiers with «tested in the SMO» labels. Now, this «SMO» has returned to the Russians’ warehouses in the form of Ukrainian drones, causing billions of dollars in damage and undermining the aggressor’s morale.
This is reported in an Associated Press article.
«Everything for the front»: what was hidden in Wildberries warehouses
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the hit facilities were directly involved in supplying the Russian army with military equipment and components. The Kremlin traditionally denies this, but reality speaks otherwise.
A journalistic analysis of Wildberries’ assortment revealed thousands of military and dual-use goods: body armor, helmets, tactical radios, thermal imagers, and electronics. Many of them had direct markings from sellers: «tested in the SMO» or «chosen by SMO fighters».
Ukrainian drones delivered devastating blows to key Wildberries logistics hubs in Elektrostal near Moscow, Tambov Oblast, as well as in Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais. Columns of black smoke and three-day fires were the result of striking facilities that supplied both the civilian market and the Russian war machine.
An «ideal storm» for Russian business
According to analysts’ estimates, the hit warehouses constituted about 12% of Wildberries’ total warehouse space, and losses from destroyed goods could reach $3 billion.
For Russian small businesses, this has been a disaster:
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Tears on social media: Russian sellers are massively posting videos, telling about completely destroyed goods and ruin.
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Force majeure at the sellers’ expense: On the eve of the attacks, the company changed its rules: Wildberries now disclaims responsibility for property loss due to «force majeure,» which includes UAV attacks.
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Double blow: The loss of goods was compounded by rising taxes, a fuel crisis, and strict regulations in the RF. Analysts have already dubbed this an «ideal storm».
The war is no longer «something distant»
The Wildberries marketplace, which controls 52% of all online orders in the RF, has for years created an illusion for Russians of «normal life» and the absence of sanctions thanks to parallel imports.
However, regular strikes on oil refineries, and now on key logistics centers, are destroying this illusion.
«Before, for the average Russian, the war was something distant. But now, awareness and discussions within society are growing. More and more people are asking what is happening and why the conflict is lasting so long. The war is finally reaching their homes,» note economic experts.
While the company is trying to pay the first compensations to the smallest sellers, Ukraine’s air campaign continues to systematically undermine both the enemy’s war economy and the psychological state of the Russian rear.
We remind you that on the night of July 24, Russia reported a massive drone attack on St. Petersburg and Tver Oblast: some of the largest Wildberries warehouses could have been hit.
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