Tatyana Kim, the company’s founder and richest woman in Russia, said it was a “terrible night” and promised that Wildberries would provide “all necessary support” to the injured and families of the deceased.
Alexander Kots, an influential Russian war correspondent, said: “Destroying a hub means increasing delivery times… and provoking a wave of returns and complaints. The calculation is precisely this: to make the average person… start looking for culprits within the country.
“The seller receives zero compensation and gets angry, not at Kyiv, but at the marketplace, the government and their neighbour.”
Other Russian war bloggers blamed the government for failing to provide air defences. Alex Parker Returns, a Russian Telegram channel, said it proved the need for mass mobilisation after parliamentary elections in September.
Putin ‘counts on’ shareholders’ loyalty
Russian soldiers can purchase drone equipment from Wildberries, but Mr Zelensky did not specify whether the depots were part of Moscow’s formal military logistics network.
“Wildberries itself does not play a significant role in Russia’s war effort,” said Pytor Mironenko, co-founder of The Bell, a newsletter focused on Russia’s economy.
“That main exception is, like any major retail platform, it is used by private citizens to buy body armour, tactical gear and other supplies that volunteers send to the front.
“Its shareholders, however, belong to the circle of businessmen whose financial support and political loyalty Vladimir Putin can count on.”
The Ukrainian drone attack also targeted an oil depot in the city of Noginsk a few miles north of the Elektrostal warehouse, causing another large fire.
Russian consumers are facing severe petrol shortages and rising prices at the pump after Kyiv’s long-range strikes on oil refineries prompted a decline of at least 30 per cent in the output of processed crude.