Ukrainian drone strikes hit two Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg, raising total attacks to seven

Ukrainian kamikaze drones struck two large Wildberries warehouses in St. Petersburg on Friday, marking the seventh attack on the e-commerce giant owned by billionaire Tatyana Kim. The drones caused extensive fires; Kim said on Telegram that there were no casualties in the latest incidents.

The series of attacks, which began a week ago, have also hit facilities in central Russia, near Moscow, Krasnodar and Stavropol. According to local reports, the strikes have killed at least eight civilians and injured dozens. Wildberries, often described as Russia’s version of Amazon, employs about 48,000 people and generated roughly $9 billion in revenue in 2024.

Kim announced that Wildberries will pay 2 million rubles to the families of each employee killed and half that amount to those seriously injured. She added that the company will continue operations to fulfill its daily order volume of about 7 million items.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the warehouses are legitimate military targets because the platform sells tactical items such as drones and protective gear. Ukrainian drone commander Robert Brovdi said the strikes aim to undermine Russian logistics and morale.

The Moscow Times estimated damage to Wildberries’ infrastructure at more than $1.3 billion. Competitors Ozon and Yandex have revised seller contracts to limit liability for destroyed inventory. Kim noted that existing insurance policies do not cover drone or terrorist attacks.

Industry analysts have warned that the size and design of modern mega-warehouses can hinder firefighting efforts, especially when inventories contain flammable materials such as plastics, aerosols and lithium-ion batteries.