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She Is Russia’s Richest Woman. Her Business Empire Is Going Up in Flames.
The New York Times • • world
Key Points:
- Tatyana Kim, co-founder of Russia’s largest online marketplace Wildberries and the country’s richest woman, is facing severe challenges as Ukrainian airstrikes target her company’s warehouses across Russia.
- Since mid-July, at least 23 Wildberries facilities have been hit repeatedly, resulting in billions of dollars in losses and the deaths of nine company workers.
- Ukraine’s strikes on Wildberries mark a new phase in the conflict, aiming to pressure Russian society by disrupting a major private business that supplies goods to Russian soldiers.
- Kim condemned the attacks as “terrorist attacks,” arguing that Wildberries sells similar goods to other global platforms like Amazon and Alibaba.
- The targeting of Wildberries reflects Kyiv’s strategy to increase domestic pressure on President Vladimir Putin by bringing the war’s impact closer to ordinary Russians.
