Warehouses belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, have been struck again in what appears to be a continued Ukrainian drone campaign targeting the country’s civilian economy, the company’s head and co-founder announced Wednesday.
The repeated targeting of a business so deeply embedded in Russia’s consumer marketplace suggests that Kyiv may be expanding its long-range drone strategy beyond traditional military targets — aiming to disrupt daily economic life and increase pressure on the Kremlin to pursue peace negotiations.
Co-founder Tatyana Kim confirmed that warehouse facilities in the cities of Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk were hit in the latest round of attacks. Video circulating on social media, which Reuters independently verified, captured a massive column of smoke billowing skyward over Krasnodar.
In another southern Russian city, Armavir, local officials reported that one worker lost their life after drone debris struck an enterprise in the area. Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev reported that 10 additional people were wounded when a storage complex was hit, and that drone fragments also struck two apartment buildings in Krasnodar, though no injuries were reported there.
Emergency crews — totaling 105 personnel — were deployed to battle the resulting warehouse fire in Krasnodar, with officials also announcing that a helicopter would be brought in to help extinguish the blaze.
This latest wave of strikes follows a deadly attack on Saturday in which Ukrainian drones killed eight Wildberries workers, triggered fires, and significantly disrupted the company’s operations.
Kim expressed grief and frustration over the ongoing strikes in a post on the Telegram messaging platform. “There are no words to describe all the feelings and emotions caused by the attacks on ordinary people, on our employees, on all of us who are simply doing our jobs,” she wrote.
Ukraine has not issued any statement regarding the recent attacks. Wildberries has also declined to comment on the extent of the damage.
The retailer originally launched as an online clothing shop reselling apparel from European catalogs before growing into a full-scale marketplace featuring products from a wide range of third-party vendors.
The attacks come as Russia’s e-commerce sector continues to grow rapidly. Online retail sales across Russia climbed 28% in 2025 to reach 11.5 trillion roubles — roughly $147 billion — according to the Association of Internet Trade Companies. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak noted that digital platform sales of goods and services now represent approximately 8.5% of the country’s GDP.
