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[–] 4 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Are they targeting wildberries in order to undermine some oligarchs support for Putin? Or is is really just to harm the economy more generally?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago

    Wildberries is a legit military target, as they supply body armor, drone parts, etc. to the Russian military. However, strategically they're also excellent targets for other reasons. First, they're bringing the fallout of the war home to everyday Russians, who have been fed a steady diet of propaganda. Imagine the disruption in the U.S. if Iran began blowing up Amazon.com warehouses with impunity. All the small businesses in the Amazon marketplace would be taking hits, and your cheap, freely delivered goods would suddenly become more scarce. The economical centralized online shopping and distribution system is being brought to its knees by Ukraine, and is disrupting the lives of everyday Russians, who are also now having to deal with fuel scarcity. Moreover, Wildberries is highly leveraged, with one of Russia's biggest bank holding over $10B in loans. If Wildberries goes tits up and leaves the bank holding the bag, that might bring down the bank and cause a cascading financial collapse of the Russian economy. While that may be a longshot, the effort is worthwhile even if it never comes to pass.

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