E-commerce Giant's Warehouses Explode, Small Traders Face Bankruptcy
The domino effect of the Russia-Ukraine war has now struck directly at the heart of the economy for Russia’s middle class and small businesses. A wave of drone attacks targeting the logistics facilities of Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries has paralysed supply chains and triggered the threat of mass bankruptcies.
One of those affected is Vasily Klimov, owner of a Wildberries franchise pick-up point in Moscow. In just three weeks, his business has changed dramatically from a profitable small enterprise to one that has shut down.
“Sales have fallen by around 50% over the past month because almost no goods are coming in. Last month we were genuinely operating at a loss,” Klimov told Reuters, as quoted on Monday (10/8/2026).
The main cause is the intensive Ukrainian drone strikes that have targeted at least 20 Wildberries warehouses across various regions of Russia since mid-July. Satellite imagery analysis shows more than 1.18 million square metres of warehousing space—equivalent to more than a fifth of Wildberries’ total capacity—has been severely damaged and burned.
These attacks have destroyed stock belonging to tens of thousands of local traders and paralysed package deliveries from an average of 400 parcels per day to just 150, sometimes even none at all.
As a result, more than 3,100 Wildberries franchise pick-up point locations are now being offered for sale and listed on local online marketplaces.
The Ukrainian government has stated that targeting the e-commerce platform is intended to raise the cost of war for Russian society, while also accusing Wildberries of supplying Moscow’s military logistics needs—an allegation firmly denied by both the company and the Kremlin.
Nevertheless, the damage to Wildberries has had a massive impact on the Russian economy as a whole. E-commerce platforms in Russia handle transactions of goods and services equivalent to 8.5% of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP).
Supply chain disruption on this massive scale has the potential to trigger a new surge in inflation. Economist Elina Ribakova from the Kyiv School of Economics believes the situation will make it difficult for the Russian Central Bank to loosen monetary policy and cut interest rates, which currently stand at 14%.
Meanwhile, Russia’s banking sector is beginning to brace for a surge in non-performing loans. Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has indicated it will increase loan loss provisions as the credit quality of online sellers deteriorates. Around 300 companies have reportedly applied for debt restructuring.
A source close to the Kremlin revealed that the most severe impact will be borne by the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.
“There will be a wave of bankruptcies. No one has hundreds of billions of roubles to prop up all the traders right now. This is a very heavy blow to the economy,” the source concluded.