Wildberries Founder Tatyana Kim Calls Drone Strikes on Warehouses 'Terrorist Attacks', Announces Seller Support
Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim labeled Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses as terrorist attacks, announced support for affected sellers, and said losses would not be compensated due to force majeure.
Tatyana Kim, founder and CEO of Wildberries, on July 31 published a video address to sellers, customers and the business community, calling the Ukrainian drone strikes on the company's warehouses "terrorist attacks." She said the strikes had been ongoing for nearly two weeks and targeted civilians across ten countries where the marketplace operates, including Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and China, whose entrepreneurs suffered billions in losses.
Kim claimed that warehouses are equipped with all available protective measures and that defenses are strengthened daily, allowing the company to repel most attacks. As an example, she cited the Yekaterinburg warehouse, where more than 200 fixed-wing drones were detected during one incident. She also described the fire-safety overhaul carried out since the 2024 merger, including the creation of in-house firefighting teams, modern suppression systems and the production of its own components. About 2,000 people work on fire safety daily, led by a former Emergency Situations Ministry colonel with over 26 years of experience.
Kim stressed that drones carry fragmentation warheads designed to injure as many people as possible. She characterized the attacks as force majeure and said that, under the law, losses from them are not subject to compensation, regardless of the wording in offer agreements. She warned about scammers and lawyers trying to profit from the situation and urged sellers to rely only on official channels and the state.
Among the measures already taken, Kim mentioned two support payment tranches, the second covering nearly 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses. Larger partners receive increased loyalty discounts, a repayment holiday at the company's bank, and additional support. In-person meetings with entrepreneurs in the hardest-hit regions are planned from next week.
Kim said logistics infrastructure is being rebuilt and flows redistributed, with dozens of lease offers inside and outside Russia, and some contracts already signed. She rejected accusations of selling military goods, saying any global marketplace offers similar items, and argued that the attacks are intended to pressure and destabilize civilians. She called on the business community to stay calm and adapt.
