WorldFor nearly a week now, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked huge warehouses belonging to Wildberries, the massive online retailer often referred to as the Amazon of Russia. The drone attacks have destroyed billions of dollars worth of goods.Ukraine has used drones to destroy vast warehouses full of goodsDavid Michael Lamb · CBC News · Posted: Jul 24, 2026 4:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Smoke rises from a Wildberries facility in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 24 after a Ukrainian drone attack. Reuters verified this social media image by matching building and other details with satellite imagery. The founder of Wildberries also confirmed there was an attack on the facility. (Social media/Reuters)For a week now, Ukrainian drones have been attacking vast warehouses that are a crucial part of Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries.Logistics hubs in St. Petersburg were hit overnight Thursday. Video verified by CBC News and Reuters show multiple drones exploding as they crash into the facilities, leading to fires that appear to have totally destroyed the warehouses. It's estimated that billions of dollars worth of goods have gone up in flames.The attacks started last weekend, one in the town of Kotovsk, some 360 kilometres from the border with Ukraine, and another in the city of Elektrostal, about 50 kilometres east of Moscow. Nine people were killed and 80 others wounded.More attacks happened early Wednesday. Ukrainian drones struck Wildberries warehouses in Krasnodar and Stavropol. Verified video of those incidents spread widely on social media.WATCH | Ukraine's strikes on Wildberries :The facts about Ukraine striking Wildberries, Russia’s Amazon1 hour ago|Duration 1:36Ukraine has been hitting warehouses for the online shopping giant Wildberries in Russia. The drone strikes have killed night shift workers and destroyed the merchandise of many sellers. Here are the facts about Wildberries — and why Ukraine is targeting these sites.The strikes on Wildberries warehouses were confirmed by company founder Tatyana Kim in statements after the attacks, as well as Russian officials.At least seven warehouses have been struck so far.What is Wildberries?Wildberries is often referred to as the equivalent of Amazon in Russia. By some estimates, it accounts for half of all online sales in the country.Wildberries was launched in 2004 by Kim, a teacher and a young mother at the time, focused, at first, on selling clothes. Since then, the platform has become an industry leader and household name, allowing big and small businesses alike to sell their goods to customers across the country by storing, shipping and delivering their inventory. In April, Forbes Russia estimated Kim's fortune at $8.1 billion US. Kim has said that last year, the company had more than 200 logistics facilities totaling over 5.2 million square metres, with plans to build new warehouses this year in Belarus and Kazakhstan, where Wildberries operates as well. It also operates in Russian-held Crimea.Smoke billows from a warehouse after deadly Ukrainian drone attacks in Elektrostal, Russia. The image, from social media, was verified by Reuters using satellite imagery. (Social media/Reuters)Does Wildberries supply military equipment?Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not name Wildberries directly, but he said the facilities his country attacked were involved in supplying gear and various technical components to the Russian military.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that "it is not the case" and accused Kyiv of continuing to "strike civilian targets."Searches of the Wildberries website show it sells some products that could be used by the military, such as body armour, helmets and radios. But the site also sells a wide range of consumer products in virtually every category, including books, clothes, cosmetics, toys, appliances, sports equipment, household goods, pharmaceutical drugs and more.Smoke billows from a burning Wildberries warehouse in St. Petersburg, Russia, after a Ukrainian drone attack on July 24. (Reuters)Some sellers have suffered huge lossesIt's not clear how many sellers there are on Wildberries, but estimates are that it is in the range of 500,000 to 800,000.Russian fashion designer Viktoria Terekhova says she shipped virtually her entire summer collection of children's clothes last week to the giant warehouse in Elektrostal, east of Moscow.Within a couple of days, it was destroyed in the Ukrainian drone strike. Terekhova says she lost 12,000 items, amounting to about 45 per cent of her company's total inventory, and another 4,000 items in attacks on Wildberries hubs in southern Russia.How modern warfare is reshaping Ukraine’s natural environmentUkraine fired 400 drones toward Moscow, city's mayor saysOleg Kondratyev, co-founder of the clothing brand Airbase that manufactures mostly women's tracksuits, said he had lost about five million roubles ($90,000) of stock in the warehouse attacks.That has placed him in a dire financial position, he said."For today, we cannot pay our loans because sales through Wildberries have stopped. Tax payments are not due yet, but they will be soon, and most likely we will not be able to pay those either," Kondratyev said.ABOUT THE AUTHORDavid Michael Lamb is a senior producer with CBC News in Toronto.With files from The Associated Press and Reuters