(KYIV) – A targeted drone campaign against Russia’s largest online retailer has spiralled into a full-scale financial crisis, with Wildberries blocking sellers from withdrawing funds and desperately seeking warehouse space in Kazakhstan to escape the attacks.
Ukrainian forces struck three more Wildberries distribution centres in two days, hitting facilities in Ryazan, Penza, and Sarapul, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. This brings the total number of centres destroyed since the campaign began on July 20 to seven, with three more damaged.
The company, facing bankruptcy, has frozen all seller accounts, preventing vendors from accessing their cash balances. One affected entrepreneur stated: “Wildberries blocked all sellers from withdrawing money from the platform. Starting today, they simply cannot withdraw their own money.” Another vendor declared she would no longer pay taxes or loans, adding, “If nobody gives an f about my problems, then now I don’t give an f about the problems of the banks.”
Footage verified by the Ukrainian military showed massive blazes engulfing warehouses, with follow-up drone strikes hitting facilities already on fire. The Russian warehouse sector is now refusing to lease space to Wildberries due to the high risk of collateral damage.
The labour market impact is severe. With unemployment at a record low of 2.1 percent, driven by military conscription and emigration, employees are quitting rather than risk death. Nine Wildberries workers have been killed in the strikes. The company initially failed to evacuate buildings during drone warnings.
Russia’s Sberbank warned of rising corporate credit risks, with Russian financial organisations’ debt increasing approximately 118 per cent since 2021. More than 500,000 Russians declared bankruptcy in 2025, a record high.
Simultaneously, Ukraine struck the Ryazan oil refinery and the Perm refinery, Russia’s third largest, hitting the AVT5 main processing unit. Ukraine also attacked the Taman oil terminal in Krasnodar Krai and a Russian sea drone base in occupied Crimea, destroying radar domes, a P18 radar, and a BUK-M3 air defence system. Footage was released by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Crimea is facing severe power outages, with most residents without electricity. Approximately 1,500 apartment buildings in Yalta have been left without gas, forcing authorities to set up outdoor communal kitchens. In the energy sector, Ukraine’s “Magyar’s Birds” unit reported striking 164 energy targets in Crimea over two months. Footage of these strikes was released by the press service of the 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Aviation Systems.
Russia is now producing and selling substandard gasoline that destroys car engines to stabilise fuel markets, easing purchase limits as supply from imports increases. For the fourth consecutive month, Ukraine launched more long-range drones into Russian territory than Russia launched into Ukraine.
A U.S. Senate sanctions bill passed with 86 to 12 bipartisan backing, targeting Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, defence ministers, military commanders, and banks including Sberbank and VTB. However, the House of Representatives is in recess until after August 31, delaying the bill’s enactment.
In Poland, a Russian KH-101 cruise missile overshot Ukraine and exploded in a Polish field. Warsaw confirmed the incident, raising tensions amid rising anti-Ukrainian hate crimes. A Ukrainian couple was beaten by far-right Polish men for speaking Polish with an accent.
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