On the night of 24 July, Ukrainian drones struck a warehouse belonging to the Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries in occupied Simferopol. A massive fire broke out on the premises, and most of the building was destroyed. Ukrainian media reported a series of explosions in Crimea and the fire at the warehouse; there is currently no information on whether anyone was present at the site.
Briefly about the main points
- Drones struck a Wildberries warehouse in occupied Simferopol.
- Following the strike, a major fire broke out on the complex’s premises.
- It appears that most of the warehouse building has been destroyed.
- There is currently no information regarding people on the site.
- This is at least the fifth Wildberries site to have been targeted this week.
The fire and the extent of the damage
A series of explosions rocked Simferopol on Thursday night. A major fire broke out at the Wildberries warehouse after it was struck by Ukrainian drones.
Videos posted online show extensive damage to the complex. According to preliminary reports, almost nothing remains of it. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed.
The Russian occupying authorities reported that air defence systems were in operation. At the same time, the attack on targets in Crimea continued, so the figures regarding the number of targets hit may be subject to revision.
A series of attacks on the logistics network
The Simferopol warehouse has become at least the fifth major Wildberries facility to be hit in the past week. On the night of 18 July Drones attacked logistics centres companies in Elektrostal, near Moscow, and in Kotovsk, in the Tambov Region.
At that time, the fires engulfed around 250,000 square metres of warehouse space in Elektrostal and 108,000 square metres in Kotovsk. Russian sources reported fatalities and dozens of injured workers, and operations at both centres were halted. These figures do not relate to the incident in Simferopol.
On the night of 21 July, fires also broke out at complexes in Krasnodar and Nevinnomyssk Stavropol Krai. Staff were evacuated there, and the receipt and dispatch of goods were suspended.
Founder of Wildberries Tetyana Kim confirmed the attacks on previous depots. Reuters, citing an analysis of open-source data published by the newspaper Kommersant, reported that prior to the strike on Simferopol, the damage could have affected around 552,000 square metres, or approximately 10% of the company’s logistics facilities.
The positions of Kyiv and Moscow on the designation of hubs
Wildberries is Russia’s largest online marketplace, with an extensive network of distribution centres. This infrastructure is used to transport goods between regions of Russia and the occupied territories.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Following the strikes on 18 July, he stated that the logistics facilities targeted had been used to supply components subject to sanctions for the production of Russian drones and navigation equipment.
The Russian authorities deny using warehouse facilities to supply the army.
What impact might the attack on the Crimean depot have?
The closure of major hubs is forcing goods and shipments to be redistributed amongst other facilities. This may lead to delivery delays, the re-routing of shipments and disruptions for sellers who were operating through the affected facilities.
The attack in Simferopol has expanded the geographical scope of the series of attacks on the occupied territory Crimea. The size, capacity and role of this particular warehouse in deliveries to the peninsula have not been publicly disclosed, so it is impossible to assess the scale of any potential disruptions. If the attacks on the network continue, Wildberries will likely have to not only restore individual facilities but also alter its delivery routes.
