Wildberries warehouse ablaze near Moscow following mass Ukrainian drone raid
Drone targeted Wildberries hub near Moscow (Photo: Exilenova+ / Telegram)
Ukrainian drone strike hit a Wildberries warehouse in Moscow Oblast overnight, igniting a fire during a large-scale aerial attack, Moscow Oblast governor Andrey Vorobyov reported on Aug. 18.
Vorobyov characterized the overnight raid as "massive," claiming Russian air defense forces destroyed more than 150 UAVs over Oblast.
One of the drones struck a Wildberries warehouse facility located in the Bogorodsky District near the Atlant-Park industrial park, triggering a blaze. Vorobyov added that emergency services contained the fire, with no further operational details immediately released.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed that more than 600 drones flew toward the Russian capital, alleging that 180 were "destroyed" over Moscow Oblast.
Overnight into Aug. 16, drones targeted Moscow and the surrounding region, sparking a massive fire at a Wildberries logistics complex spanning more than 200,000 square meters.
Strategic impact on Wildberries
Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Wildberries infrastructure have expanded significantly. According to Reuters, Ukrainian drones have hit at least 20 of the company's logistics centers, with several sites completely destroyed by resulting fires. In total, the online marketplace has lost approximately 1.18 million square meters of warehouse capacity.
The operational fallout has begun rippling across the company and the broader Russian economy. Squeezed by destroyed distribution nodes and an exodus of merchant sellers, Wildberries' overall turnover has reportedly plummeted by roughly 25%.
Citing a source close to the Kremlin, Reuters reported that Russia could soon face a wave of commercial bankruptcies among small and mid-sized merchants who sold goods through the platform and suffered total stock losses in the logistics hub strikes.
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