On July 18, Ukraine's Armed Forces struck two logistics warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce company, with drones. The strikes on the warehouses in Elektrostal near Moscow and Kotovsk in Tambov region killed 8 people and wounded more than 80. As fires raged for days, the sellers' financial loss far exceeded the platform's own damage.
Company's losses limited
According to calculations by experts cited by Forbes and Kommersant newspapers, the cost of repairing the Elektrostal (250,000 square meters) and Kotovsk (108,000 square meters) warehouses will be between 22 and 36 billion rubles. These two warehouses account for 6.5 to 9 percent of Wildberries' total warehouse space. Given the company's 2025 net profit of 175 billion rubles, it can cover this loss with its own resources.
Sellers' losses five times greater
The hardest blow hit the sellers on the platform. Data Insight analyst Sergey Semko told Forbes that the value of sellers' inventory in these two warehouses ranges from 150 to 235 billion rubles, with the most optimistic estimate at 150-170 billion rubles. This figure is about five times Wildberries' own warehouse loss. The company had paid sellers 35 billion rubles in compensation for a fire at its Shushary warehouse in 2024, but the current damage far exceeds this amount.
Liability limited through contract change
Just 11 days before the attack, on July 7, Wildberries updated its contract with sellers, limiting its liability in "force majeure" situations, including drone attacks. According to lawyer Konstantin Stepanov, sellers who accepted this change have minimal chances of winning compensation in court. Andrey Sharkov, a law firm partner, stated that even without the contract change, the court could directly consider a drone strike as force majeure. It is noted that sellers could receive partial compensation if they prove that Wildberries failed to take adequate measures.
Insurance is no solution either
Experts emphasize that insurance is also not an effective solution for sellers. It is estimated that only 5 to 7 percent of sellers on Wildberries have insurance policies, and only 10 to 20 percent of those cover sabotage risk. Additionally, market rumors suggest Wildberries has not insured its warehouses.
Full compensation unrealistic
Wildberries, concerned about its reputation, announced it will offer sellers measures such as discounts, penalty waivers and credit support instead of direct cash compensation. Aleksey Moskalenko, head of the Association of E-Commerce Representatives, said that after inventory work is completed, sellers will begin negotiations with the company. Forbes wrote that full compensation is unrealistic, as a payment of 150-170 billion rubles would wipe out almost all of the company's profit from last year.
