Russia is facing a potential wave of mass bankruptcies among independent entrepreneurs who sell goods via the Wildberries marketplace, following a sustained campaign of Ukrainian drone strikes that has dismantled the company’s logistics network.
According to Reuters, hundreds of billions of rubles are needed to compensate sellers for inventory destroyed in the burning warehouses, but the state lacks the resources to cover the losses.
“No one has that kind of money to support the sellers. We are talking about hundreds of billions of rubles,” the Kremlin source told Reuters.
The situation is particularly dire for individual entrepreneurs, who make up a significant portion of the vendors on Wildberries. Under Russian law, these individuals are personally liable for their business debts. Sellers who purchased their now-destroyed inventory on credit face not only bankruptcy but the potential seizure of their personal assets.
The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has reportedly proposed altering the bankruptcy procedures to protect these specific entrepreneurs.
Concurrently, Russian authorities are discussing a package of support measures, including credit holidays, preferential loans, and tax breaks. However, direct financial compensation for the destroyed goods is not currently under consideration.
At least 20 Wildberries logistics centers have been targeted by Ukrainian drones since mid-July, resulting in the loss of approximately 1.2 million square meters (12.9 million square feet) of warehouse capacity.
Deep strikes cripple supply chains
The looming economic crisis is the direct result of an ongoing, highly effective deep-strike campaign targeting Russia’s civilian logistics infrastructure.
On Friday, Aug. 7, a Ukrainian drone struck a Wildberries warehouse in Yekaterinburg, over 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from the border.
The attack sparked a fire and forced the evacuation of approximately 800 employees, temporarily shutting down operations at the regional hub and prompting brief flight restrictions at the nearby Koltsovo Airport.
The Yekaterinburg strike is part of a sustained barrage that has knocked at least eight of Wildberries’ 15 largest logistics hubs offline. Earlier in the week, on Aug. 4, a drone strike set fire to one of the company’s largest warehouses in the Tula region, forcing it to suspend operations.
Independent outlets report that seven other major facilities – including hubs in Elektrostal (Moscow region), Vladimir, Krasnodar, Nevinnomyssk, Samara, Leningrad, and Penza – remain non-operational following previous strikes.