Wildberries Loses 9% of Warehouse Space in Drone Attacks

The financial strain is spreading to Russia's banking sector. Sberbank, the state-controlled lender, said on Wednesday that roughly 300 companies that took out loans were requesting payment delays or changes to their terms since the attacks. The bank's chief financial officer, Taras Skvortsov, said no decision had been taken on raising reserves to cover loan defaults, but he offered an upbeat outlook, saying the retail market "will cope with this situation and emerge from it with their heads held high."

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed Kyiv's involvement in the strikes on Russian warehouses. "The aggressor used them to supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment," he said on July 18 of the first two warehouses hit. Wildberries had carried listings for tactical gear, drone components, and field rations under a search tag titled "Everything for the SVO," referring to the special military operation, Russia's term for the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin denied that Wildberries handles military supplies. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of attacking "civilian targets." The "Everything for the SVO" tag was removed from the Wildberries marketplace website earlier this week.

It is not clear which drone system Ukraine used in most of the attacks. Fire Point, a manufacturer of the FP-1 propeller-driven long-range strike drone, said one of its drones was used in an attack in Ryazan.

Kyiv has said it hopes the long-range strikes will suppress Russian revenue and disrupt the economy, creating internal pressure that could erode Moscow's ability to continue the war.