Ukrainian drones struck a warehouse belonging to Ozon, Russia's second-largest online retailer, in the first attack on the platform. The strike extended a campaign that has already hit facilities belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest e-commerce company, across multiple regions, killing several people.
Ukraine frames the attacks as targeting supply chains that support the Russian military. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the facilities his country struck were involved in supplying gear and technical components to Russian forces, though he did not name Wildberries directly.
The Kremlin rejected that justification. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Ukraine's characterization is false, accusing Kyiv of striking civilian targets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of opening "Pandora's box" with strikes on economic targets, language suggesting Moscow views the campaign as crossing a line distinct from attacks on military infrastructure, refineries or maritime hubs.
The Wildberries strikes came first and in greater numbers. Ukrainian drones hit Wildberries facilities in Elektrostal, just east of Moscow, and in the Tambov region on July 18. Further strikes followed on warehouses across western and southern Russia and in Russian-held Crimea. Nine people were killed and scores injured across those attacks.
Ukrainian drones burned billions of dollars' worth of merchandise stored in the giant depots, according to assessments of the strikes. The destruction at Wildberries facilities brought the war directly to millions of ordinary Russians who rely on the platform for everyday purchases.
Ozon's strike represents the campaign's expansion to a second major retailer. Ukraine has described the effort as targeting economic infrastructure, not simply military-industrial targets.
The strategic logic Kyiv has articulated differs from strikes on oil refineries or arms production. Warehouse fires destroy merchandise and disrupt logistics visible to the civilian population in ways a remote refinery fire does not. Ukrainian officials said the attacks are designed to bring the costs of the war home to the Russian public.
Moscow's accusation that Kyiv is hitting civilian infrastructure mirrors the language Russia uses to deflect international criticism of its own strikes on Ukrainian cities and energy systems. The exchange reflects a broader pattern in which each side contests the other's characterization of legitimate military targets.
The nine deaths recorded across the Wildberries strikes underscore that the warehouses housed workers. Peskov cited civilian deaths among employees of a commercial company in his Tuesday remarks accusing Ukraine of targeting civilians.
Zelenskyy's position that the warehouses served dual purposes by channeling supplies to Russian forces has not been independently verified. Ukraine has not released specific evidence publicly linking Wildberries or Ozon logistics networks to military procurement chains.
The strikes add a dimension to the war's economic front. Ukraine has previously targeted Russian oil infrastructure, Crimean supply routes and Black Sea shipping. The shift to consumer retail warehouses marks different pressure aimed at the daily experience of Russian consumers rather than the state's energy revenues or military logistics.
