Ukraine targets Wildberries amid EU sanctions
Wildberries, whose banking arm had sanctions imposed on it by the European Union this week over its financial contribution to the Russian budget, plays a central role in Russia’s consumer economy. Its targeting by Ukraine appears to be part of Kyiv’s attempts to ensure ordinary Russians feel the impact of the war which has raged on Ukrainian territory for more than four years, reports BritPanorama.
The strikes, the fourth on Wildberries’ facilities since last weekend, threaten serious losses for businesses that sell through Wildberries and potential disruption to customers who use it to buy clothing, appliances, medicines, cosmetics and a host of other products.
Zelenskyy has described the targets as logistics hubs involved in supplying Russian forces with drone components and other equipment. The Kremlin has denied that Wildberries handles military supplies. Kim has accused Ukraine of attacking ordinary people doing their jobs.
Eight Wildberries warehouses, accounting for over 10% of the company’s logistics capacity, have now been attacked since July 18 when the first attack on the retailer killed eight workers.
Kim said the company was working around the clock to try to maintain the quality of its service.
Two orders placed on Wildberries since the weekend by Reuters reporters were either fully or almost fully fulfilled on time. Two other orders were still being processed. In normal times, Wildberries can handle over 20 million orders a day.
Together with smaller rivals, Wildberries and top competitor Ozon sell goods and services worth the equivalent of 8.5% of Russia’s gross domestic product and employ 4 million people, or more than 5% of the country’s workforce.
Russia has itself targeted Ukraine’s logistics hubs as well as its energy system and power grid.
