Why Ukraine is targeting Russia’s ‘Amazon’ Wildberries with major strikes

Key Points:

• Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes targeting Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce platform, hitting multiple warehouses and logistics hubs to disrupt the company's operations, which Kyiv alleges support the Russian military.
• Wildberries, often compared to Amazon, is a major player in Russia's economy, accounting for about 8.5% of GDP and supporting over 4 million jobs, with an estimated $2.9 billion worth of goods destroyed in recent attacks.
• Ukrainian officials justify the strikes by accusing Wildberries of aiding Russia's war effort and having financial ties to state-controlled bank VTB, aiming to increase economic pressure on Moscow amid ongoing conflict.
• The Kremlin has acknowledged the economic damage caused by the attacks and may need to financially support Wildberries, which has lost significant warehousing capacity and stock.
• In parallel, the US Senate has advanced a bipartisan bill imposing stricter sanctions on Russia, targeting countries that continue to purchase Russian oil, gas, and other exports, signaling increased international pressure.