(KYIV) – Ukraine has escalated its military campaign against Russian domestic infrastructure, launching repeated strikes on Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer, in an effort to disrupt both the Russian war economy and the daily lives of ordinary citizens.
Since mid-July, at least a dozen warehouses and storage facilities belonging to the company have been hit across Russia and occupied Crimea. The attacks represent a significant broadening of Ukraine’s targeting strategy, moving beyond purely military objectives to include commercial entities that Kyiv alleges are integral to Moscow’s war effort.
Wildberries, often described as Russia’s equivalent to Amazon, has become a focal point of Ukrainian operations. The company holds approximately $10 billion (£7.8 billion) in debt, according to analysts, making it heavily reliant on state-owned banks for support. The potential collapse of the firm could trigger a domino effect throughout the Russian economy, which is already grappling with overheating and high inflation.
Speaking to DW News, Fabrice Pothier, chief executive of Rasmussen Global and a former NATO policy planning director, explained that Ukraine is pursuing multiple objectives through the campaign. The first is targeting a company that provides logistical support to Russian armed forces. The second is disrupting the Russian way of life and bringing the consequences of war back to the Russian population. The third is creating what Pothier described as “economic sanctions through kinetic means,” placing additional strain on an already fragile economy.
The campaign has drawn a sharp response from Wildberries chief executive Tatiana Bakalchuk, Russia’s wealthiest woman, who denounced the attacks as terrorism. She dismissed Ukrainian claims that the company supplies military goods, arguing that similar items are available on other global marketplaces such as Amazon and Alibaba.
However, analysts point to Bakalchuk’s close relationship with the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin-backed merger that expanded her company several years ago. Pothier emphasised that the Russian economy cannot be understood through the same civilian-military distinctions applicable in Western Europe.
“This is an economy where the oligarchs have been asked explicitly by Putin to support the war efforts,” Pothier said. “More than 10 per cent of GDP goes into military capabilities. There is no clear demarcation between war and peace.”
The attacks on Wildberries form part of a broader Ukrainian strategy that has emerged over recent months, targeting Russian logistics lines supplying occupied territory, including Crimea. Ukrainian forces are systematically applying pressure not only on Russian troops illegally occupying Ukrainian land but also on the infrastructure that sustains them.
VTB, a Russian state-owned bank, is likely to be called upon to bail out the struggling retailer, further straining public finances. The Russian central bank has been attempting to cool inflation in an economy that some analysts describe as dangerously over-leveraged.
Pothier suggested the campaign may not produce an immediate reversal of Russian policy but will increase the cost of the ongoing war. “This might not be producing a decisive outcome,” he acknowledged. “But this might actually start putting a higher cost on what he is doing there.”
The resilience of Russian consumers has been tested throughout the conflict, with Western brands such as Starbucks, IKEA and Dunkin’ Donuts replaced by local alternatives including Stars Coffee, Swed House and Donut. However, Pothier noted that many Russians continue to pay substantial premiums to acquire original Western goods through secondary economies in Central Asia, indicating an ongoing attachment to Western consumer products.
“The Ukrainians are trying to inject the notion that their country has waged a five-year illegal war against Ukraine,” Pothier said. “You cannot do that from sitting comfortably in your Russian living room ordering goods on Wildberries. There is a cost to that.”
He further argued that the Russian population bears responsibility for Putin’s actions, describing a “Putin generation” that has failed to change the course of events over two decades of authoritarian rule.
The campaign shows no signs of abating. On the morning of the interview, Wildberries announced plans to construct a large warehouse in Kazakhstan, presumably to relocate operations beyond the reach of Ukrainian strikes.
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