Ukraine escalates drone strikes on Russia’s retail giants Ozon and Wildberries in bid to hit economy
Ukraine has widened its drone campaign against Russia’s e-commerce giants.
They’re taking aim at major economic hubs to put pressure on Moscow’s economy and the strikes have disrupted operations at two facilities tied to Russia’s biggest online retailers.
Ozon faces a wave of drone strikes as Ukraine targets Russian logistics
Ozon is Russia’s second-largest online retailer and has emerged as the latest major target in Ukraine’s campaign against Russian logistics infrastructure.
As reported by CNBC, the company faced strikes at facilities in southern Russia, with attacks hitting logistics hubs in Makhachkala in Dagestan and Enem near Krasnodar.
Another attack also halted work at an Ozon logistics center in the Samara region. In three days, Ukraine hit six of the company’s facilities and Ozon’s shares plunged nearly 30% on the Moscow Exchange on Monday, August 24.
Ozon described the immediate aftermath of the Samara strike in a Telegram statement. The company said the attack caused a fire at the warehouse and workers evacuated “within minutes.”
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense framed the operation as a broader effort to disrupt Russia’s supply chain. “Systematic strikes on storage centers holding dual-use goods are disrupting the enemy’s logistics and negatively impacting Russia’s economy as a whole,” the ministry said on X.
They added, “After Ukrainian units hit 15 of Wildberries’ largest logistics hubs, it’s now Ozon’s turn.”
Ukraine’s military has argued that the targeted warehouses contain gadgets with potential military applications, including drone components and navigation equipment.
Ukraine’s crosshair first landed on Wildberries, another Russian retail giant
Before Ozon was a target, Wildberries faced a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on its logistics network. As per a previous CNBC report, the Russian e-commerce giant, often compared with Amazon, evacuated a warehouse in Ryazan after Ukrainian drones struck several industrial facilities in the region.
Elina Ribakova, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, made some grave predictions about Russia. She said, “The Russian economy has stalled.”
Ribakova added, “It will have growth of zero percent this year — at best, we have seen contraction of the economy in the first quarter and industrial output contraction as well. Industrial output contraction means that also the defense sector has decelerated meaningfully. So, Russia is vulnerable.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has responded sharply to Ukraine’s attacks on economic targets (via Reuters).
He said Kyiv has opened the “Pandora’s box” with its strikes and pledged to retaliate against Ukraine’s “most sensitive economic sectors.”