Newly released satellite imagery from US spatial intelligence firm Vantor confirms that at least four massive warehouse facilities belonging to Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries have been heavily damaged or destroyed in a series of Ukrainian drone strikes over the past several weeks.
The attacks are part of a deliberate campaign by Kyiv to disrupt Russian logistics networks. The Ukrainian defense ministry stated the operations are dismantling hubs that aid Moscow’s war effort, accusing Wildberries of facilitating the sale of dual-use and military goods, including tactical vests and drone flight-control goggles. The Kremlin denies the company's direct involvement in the war.
Imagery captured in early August shows the charred remains of facilities in Elektrostal, Volgograd, Simferopol, and Krasnodar. The strikes, beginning in mid-July, have utilized long-range fixed-wing drones such as the Ukrainian-made FP-1, which are capable of traveling hundreds of miles before impacting their targets. A recent strike on a logistics hub in Krasny Bor, near St. Petersburg, reportedly destroyed a facility with a holding capacity exceeding 57 million units.
Economic and Military Strain
The destruction is having a measurable impact on Russia's domestic economy. Wildberries, widely described as Russia's version of Amazon, has lost an estimated 10% of its total warehouse space. Russian business outlet Forbes Russia reports that just two of the attacks resulted in merchant losses totaling at least $1.8 billion in merchandise, placing significant strain on Russian small and medium enterprises reliant on the platform.
This systematic targeting of commercial logistics parallels Ukraine's ongoing strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, which officials in Kyiv frame as an enforcement of "long-range" sanctions. The goal is to directly degrade the revenue streams and supply chains that sustain the Russian military apparatus. Overnight Wednesday, Ukrainian unmanned systems forces struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery, a northern facility with an annual crude refining capacity of 15 million tons, further limiting fuel supplies to Russian forces.
"Russian logistics, dismantled one hub at a time," the Ukrainian defense ministry said after a recent strike. Ukrainian defense contractor Fire Point added simply of a destroyed warehouse: "It was there. Now it's not."
The strikes highlight a continued vulnerability in Russia's interior and raise questions about the cost to the Russian state of protecting sprawling commercial infrastructure that its adversary has labeled a legitimate military target.