The attacks began on a July weekend and have continued for a month, stretching from Moscow and St. Petersburg, to cities in the south, and eastward to the Ural Mountains. The targets weren’t oil refineries, maritime hubs or arms plants hit by other Ukrainian strikes, but warehouses that bring the convenience of online shopping across the breadth of Russia.

Ukraine’s drones have pummeled the giant depots belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and bringing the war home to the broad public.

The attacks on about 20 Wildberries facilities have underlined Kyiv’s ability to strike far and wide inside Russia and posed a new challenge to President Vladimir Putin nearly 4½ years into his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

They have badly shaken the empire built by Tatyana Kim, the country’s richest female entrepreneur, whose fortune has been estimated at $8.1 billion.

all 17 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 27 points 2 months ago

It should be stressed that Ukraine isn't attacking WB instead of attacking refineries, logistics, and shipping. They're doing it in addition.

Warehouses are a soft, easy target. And, like oil facilities, you're counting on the goods themselves to do most of the destruction with a little incendiary help. Ukraine has a large supply of slow, cheap suicide drones and this is a good use for them. You force Russia to move air defenses away from the front, absorb economic and financial losses, and remind regular "non-political" Russians that they're at war. Also, you minimize collateral damage because unless workers are killed in the initial attack, they're likely to escape the conflagration that accounts for most of the damage.

  • source
  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    They are creating a new marketplace for dual-use goods that were previously, albeit with limitations, traded on WB: https://theins.press/en/news/296020

  • source
  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago

    soft targets are the way.

  • source
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    The "online retailer" also provides logistics services to the Russian military.

  • source
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    The attacked OnlyComrades?

  • source
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Russia Strikes Epicentr, Nova Poshta, Silpo, Novus Warehouses, Killing at Least 10 (kyivpost) - retaliation for the Ukrainian strikes. Russia apparently also claims Nova Poshta became a logistic arm of the Ukrainian military.

  • source
  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    I was hoping to find some recordings/archive of the Wildberries SMO section from before they removed it, but no luck. The best I could find was a reddit thread with some examples from a month ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1uzsxn9/a_huge_amount_of_military_goods_are_sold_on/. Camo bulletproof vests and equipment for fiber optic drones.

  • source
  • [+] -23 points 2 months ago (7 children)

    This is dangerously borderline. I mean, the next step is hitting malls or universities. Thoughts for the civilian killed by this war and their families.

  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] 12 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    But when a russian missile hits an appartment building, that's somehow fine because reasons, right?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 2 months ago (4 children)

    No that's obviously not fine and worse.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Then, that line was already crossed broadly by Russia a good while ago, so there's no borderline anymore. THEY started an invasion, THEY started bombing houses, THEY kidnapped kids to brainwash them. But now that Ukraine is finally fighting back and hitting where it hurts, it's suddenly "a dangerous borderline"?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • Wtf friend, it's not suddenly a dangerous borderline, it always has been a borderline, which Russia crossed long ago, it's not the point. Russia is bad, Russia is the aggressor, but it doesnt mean Ukraine can do borderline things without me calling it borderline.

  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -12 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Engaging in total war has never broken a nation's moral before,... but maybe it'll work for us

    ~ Ukraine

    I don't think there is anything wrong with attacking corporations that supply the war effort, I just think Ukraine is kidding itself if they think you can bomb morale out of people.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment