Ukraine Strikes 'Russian Amazon' Again; Founder and Russia's Richest Person is of Korean Descent

Russia's largest e-commerce platform, Wildberries (commonly known as the 'Russian Amazon'), announced on July 24 that Ukrainian forces had attacked three of its major warehouses within Russian territory during the night of July 23 into the early hours of July 24, escalating strikes against Russia's economy and logistics supply chain. Footage captured by Reuters in Saint Petersburg and surrounding areas showed thick black smoke rising into the sky, with visible fires at the sites.

Tatyana Kim, the Korean-Russian founder of Wildberries and Russia's wealthiest person, stated in a public declaration that the latest attacks targeted facilities in Saint Petersburg, the neighboring Leningrad Oblast, and Simferopol, the capital of Crimea under Russian control. She said, 'We managed to save parts of the facilities and inventory. I want to especially thank all our staff—they are true heroes, and all warehouses completed rapid evacuations.' She emphasized that, according to preliminary reports, there were no casualties.

Kim added that the company is now urgently relocating goods to other warehouses to maintain inventory turnover efficiency and ensure the economic stability of its partners.

Wildberries plays a critical role in Russia's consumer market. Its banking division was only this week added to the European Union's sanctions list, due to its substantial contributions to Russia's state budget. Ukraine's continued targeting of such major e-commerce logistics hubs is widely interpreted as Kyiv's strategy to make ordinary Russian citizens directly feel the impact of the war, which has now lasted over four years on Ukrainian territory.

This marks the fourth attack on Wildberries since mid-July. These strikes could severely impact sellers relying on the platform and disrupt deliveries of clothing, electronics, medicines, cosmetics, and daily essentials for consumers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly claimed these sites serve as logistics hubs supplying drone components and other equipment to Russian forces. The Kremlin denies Wildberries' involvement in military logistics. Kim criticized the attacks, stating they target ordinary civilians carrying out their daily work.

Since the first attack on July 18, which killed eight employees, a total of eight Wildberries warehouses have been hit, amounting to over 10% of the company's logistics capacity. Kim stated the company is working around the clock to maintain service quality.

Two orders placed by Reuters journalists with Wildberries after mid-July were fully or nearly fully delivered on time, while two others remain in processing. Under normal circumstances, the platform handles over 20 million orders per day.

Wildberries, along with its main competitor Ozon and other smaller players, accounts for 8.5% of Russia's GDP in combined sales and directly or indirectly employs approximately 4 million people—over 5% of the national workforce.

Russia continues to attack Ukraine's logistics hubs, energy systems, and power infrastructure.