A great deal of smoke is billowing over St. Petersburg following a Ukrainian drone strike that targeted sites operated by Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, on July 24, 2026 in St. Petersburg. Petersburg, Russia.
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Ukraine’s drone attack on Russia’s largest online retailer Wildberries has increased pressure on Moscow’s wartime economy, as Kyiv seeks to force President Vladimir Putin back to the negotiating table after nearly four and a half years of war.
Ukraine was looking for major transport hubs, like Russia Amazon-a big selling style, as part of the pressure to seriously disrupt the procurement of the country’s goods and increase the financial burden facing Russian banks and businesses.
It marks a major change in the way Ukrainian forces operate, following months of drone strikes targeting Russian energy infrastructure.
Wildberry moved out of a warehouse in the central Russian city of Ryazan on Wednesday morning, the company said, after Ukrainian drones hit several industrial sites.
The Russian government has acknowledged it may need to help Wildberries, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed sources, with state-controlled bank VTB expected to play a key role. The Russian Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russian businesses have faced many disruptions due to the war, according to Natalya Kovaleva, a researcher in the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House.
“Western sanctions have broken supply chains. Tariffs are being raised at borders. Internet shutdowns have disrupted operations. And recent fuel shortages have raised costs while adding to inflationary pressures,” Kovaleva said Tuesday in an online post.
“Russian business owners took this shock seriously. But Ukraine’s strikes on Wildberries represent a new development, reflecting Kyiv’s broader effort to relieve economic pressure on businesses and ordinary Russians.”
Kovaleva said Ukraine’s hope is that by increasing the cost of the war on Russian businesses, internal opposition will rise and Putin may be forced to the negotiating table — or at least stop his bombing of Ukrainian cities.
“It remains to be seen whether this strategy will have any effect. Even as it becomes increasingly difficult to do business in Russia, the country’s elites appear to be increasingly dependent on — and wary of — the Kremlin. [than] never before,” said Kovaleva.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that warehouses targeting Ukrainian drones were involved in supplying Russian forces with drone parts, navigation equipment and other military equipment.
Wildberry is Russia’s largest online retailer and is the equivalent of US e-commerce giant Amazon. The company was founded in 2004, and currently employs approximately 48,000 people.
‘Russia is in danger’
Along with Ukraine’s attacks on Russian shipping houses, analysts have warned that the Russian economy could be vulnerable to US sanctions.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that he discussed licenses for the production of the Patriot interceptor and the importance of renewing the official process during what he described as a “good meeting” with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
The meeting took place at a time when America’s war with Iran and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have reached a critical stage. Trump has suspended airstrikes against Iran as part of a campaign to give diplomacy another chance, while Zelenskyy has been encouraged by the huge success of the strike on Russian territory.
The Trump-Zelenskyy meeting also coincided with a renewed congressional push to tighten sanctions on Moscow, with legislation sponsored by Sen. The late Lindsey Graham passed his first Senate hurdle.
In this sea photo distributed by the Russian regional agency Sputnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin (C), accompanied by the CEO of Rostec Sergey Chemezov (L), the Director of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant Andrey Soynov (2nd-L) and the Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev (2nd-R), visits the Irkutsk 2624 Aviation Aviation in July.
Vyacheslav Prokofyev Afp | Getty Images
“The Russian economy is at a standstill,” Elina Ribakova, senior director at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Wednesday.
“It will grow by zero percent this year – at best, we saw a recession in the first quarter and a decrease in industrial output. The decrease in industrial production means that the defense sector has also decreased dramatically. So, Russia is at risk.”
Ribakova said Russia’s energy sanctions law has the potential to have a “significant impact” on Putin’s wartime economy, especially at a time when Russia’s conflicts with Iran appear to be converging.
Kyiv on Saturday launched an attack on an Iranian merchant ship in the Caspian Sea, an incident Tehran said left one sailor dead and several others injured. The Islamic Republic has threatened retaliation for the strike.
“What gives it momentum is again this connection with Iran,” said Ribakova. The fact that Iran is able to close the Strait of Hormuz increases oil prices and, of course, gives Russia another way to continue fighting in Ukraine, he added.
