Russia’s Wildberries plans new ‘partner hubs’ after Ukrainian drone strikes on its warehouses

MOSCOW: Russian online ‌retailer Wildberries said on Friday it was seeking partners to open new storage hubs, after three weeks of relentless Ukrainian drone strikes on its warehouses.
It was Wildberries’ first publicly announced move to address the huge logistical challenge posed by the near-nightly attacks, some of which have destroyed entire warehouses of stock.
A Reuters review of satellite imagery shows at least 1.18 million square meters of storage space — more than a fifth ‌of the company’s ‌capacity — has been damaged or ‌destroyed ⁠since the Ukrainian attacks began ⁠on July 18.
“Owners and tenants of suitable premises will be able to open a partner hub and earn fees for processing, storing, and shipping goods sold on the marketplace,” the company said in a statement.
“At this stage, Wildberries is accepting applications from property ⁠owners and tenants across all regions ‌of Russia.”
Ukraine, which was ‌invaded by Russia in February 2022, says the strikes are ‌part of a campaign to “bring the war home” ‌to ordinary Russians and raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the conflict.
Wildberries is Russia’s biggest e-commerce company and a huge player in the consumer economy. It has condemned ‌the drone strikes, which have killed at least 13 people, as “terrorism.” At least 20 ⁠of the ⁠company’s sites have been attacked. In the latest, it said a warehouse had caught fire in Yekaterinburg, 1,400 km (870 miles) east of Moscow, but that the blaze was later contained and most of the goods at the site were undamaged.
Russia is also targeting Ukrainian logistics hubs. At least 17 people were killed this week in attacks aimed at commercial warehouses in and around Kyiv that it alleged were being used to store drone components and other “dual-use” goods with military as well as civilian applications.