Story perspectives

Ukrainian Drones Hit Wildberries Warehouses, $2.9 B Losses, Russia Downs 635

8/4/2026

Center

Ukrainian Drones Strike

Ukrainian drones struck multiple Wildberries warehouses across Russia in several regions beginning on July 18 2026, igniting fires and causing casualties.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down 635 of the attacking drones during the same wave of strikes.
Wildberries said extinguishing the blaze at its Elektrostal hub required three days, despite intensive firefighting.
Reimbursement payments were announced for over 185,000 sellers in two tranches, offsetting inventory losses.

Left

Ukrainian Drones Impact

Ukrainian drones struck several Wildberries warehouses across Russia beginning July 18 2026, causing fires and casualties.
Wildberries began seeking warehouse space in Kazakhstan, but scarce vacancies and landlord fears of further drone attacks stalled leasing.
A second aid tranche was provided to nearly 100,000 sellers whose inventory was damaged.
Analysts estimated destroyed goods worth up to $2.9 billion, cutting Wildberries’ warehousing capacity by about 10 percent.

Blindspot

Wildberries began seeking warehouse space in Kazakhstan, but limited vacancy and landlord concerns about drone attacks hampered leasing, according to the left-leaning sources.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Left-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Center-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

In the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan employed Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, highlighting the conflict’s shift to unmanned attacks on military targets and supply routes. That precedent underlies the July 18 2026 Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian retailer Wildberries warehouses, illustrating how drone warfare now threatens broader regional and global e-commerce logistics networks.

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Ukrainian Drones Strike

Ukrainian drones struck multiple Wildberries warehouses across Russia in several regions beginning on July 18 2026, igniting fires and causing casualties.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported shooting down 635 of the attacking drones during the same wave of strikes.
Wildberries said extinguishing the blaze at its Elektrostal hub required three days, despite intensive firefighting.
Reimbursement payments were announced for over 185,000 sellers in two tranches, offsetting inventory losses.

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