While We Slept, Our Business Burned. Who Pays?

On the night of 18 July, drones attacked Wildberries logistics facilities in the Tambov Region (Kotovsk) and Elektrostal in the Moscow Region. In Kotovsk, seven night-shift employees were killed and 25 people were wounded. Tambov Region Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov said the drones were equipped with fragmentation elements — metal ball bearings. In Elektrostal, one of the injured later died in hospital; 37 people were wounded in total. Fires were also recorded at an oil depot in Noginsk (Moscow Region) and at a kindergarten building (no casualties). By 19 July, 62 people remained in hospitals, eight of them in serious condition. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (Sledstvenny komitet, SK) opened criminal cases on charges of terrorist attacks.

Wildberries has begun payments to the families of the dead (2 million rubles each, about $22,200 at current rates) and to the seriously injured (1 million rubles each, about $11,100 at current rates). Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim promised support to sellers whose goods were destroyed or damaged. On 21 July, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov denied reports that the warehouses were used to supply the Russian Armed Forces.

According to experts, rebuilding the burned warehouses will cost at least 100,000 rubles per square meter (about $1,100 at current rates). Other experts cite 60,000 rubles per square meter (about $667 at current rates), which amounts to about 21.5 billion rubles (about $239 million) for the buildings alone. Including equipment and inventory, the total damage could reach 50 billion rubles (about $556 million at current rates). Restoring the infrastructure will take one to two years.

On social media, sellers are widely counting their losses. One businesswoman, who lost a clothing collection (the goods arrived at the warehouse on 8 July), said: «Yesterday I was a businesswoman, and today I am bankrupt.» She had already survived a fire at a warehouse in Shushary, St. Petersburg, in January 2024, and spent two years rebuilding. Clothing brand 2211gate posted a video titled «Our business burned to the ground last night». Brand representatives noted: «We had been building the brand for two years... Our main warehouse was in Elektrostal. Today nothing is left of it.» The owner of a skincare brand (more than 9,000 units burned) is considering developing her own website instead of marketplaces. Another businesswoman, who lost goods worth 11 million rubles (about $122,200 at current rates), raised prices by 10–15%.

Marketplace seller Karina said she had liquidated her business on marketplaces, and the remaining goods at the Elektrostal warehouse burned: «I had leftover stock worth about a million rubles (about $11,100 at current rates), for which I am still paying off loans.» Alisa, founder of a Siberian cosmetics brand, lost more than 500 items worth 1.64 million rubles (about $18,200 at current rates) and sent the marketplace a pre-trial claim. She noted that she had already faced a similar situation in Shushary and now could cover only taxes.

Entrepreneur Denis Vdovin (brand Deanda) put his losses at 3.7 million rubles (about $41,100 at current rates) — more than 1,500 units of goods. He believes it is now important to redistribute the remaining stock to other warehouses. Vdovin recalls that after the fires at the Shushary warehouse and at Ozon«s warehouse in Istra (Moscow Region), the marketplaces paid full compensation, «as if we had sold the goods». He hopes the state will oversee the payments: «It hurts much more that there were people who will not return to their families.»

Lawyers explain that under the law, Wildberries is not obliged to compensate sellers for their losses. In the new offer agreement (effective 20 July), a drone attack is explicitly listed as a force majeure circumstance relieving the company of liability. Clause 11.3.4.1 lists such circumstances, including military operations, the use of drones, and other force majeure events. Galina Gamburg, head of the property relations practice at Amulex.ru, stressed that even without this clause, the Civil Code applies — a professional custodian is not liable for loss of goods under force majeure. «Widespread claims that Wildberries rushed to change its offer in seven days are groundless.»

Despite this, Wildberries promises to pay sellers compensation. The company announced the following support measures:

Tatyana Kim said that in the near future, sellers« reports will reflect all goods that were in the burned warehouses.

As for buyers who paid for orders before receiving them, the seller must refund the money. However, the seller may cite force majeure in court. The consumer is also entitled to demand a penalty for late delivery of prepaid goods.