The logistics centers of Wildberries, targeted by Ukrainian strikes, also contain goods from Armenian sellers. More than 10,000 Armenian entrepreneurs sell on this platform. They are currently assessing the damages and waiting for news about compensation.
“They haven’t given a clear answer on how they will compensate. I estimate the damages to be around one and a half million drams or more,” said Gurgen Tadevosyan, who sells silver jewelry on Wildberries:
In recent days, Ukraine has struck several times at the logistics centers of Russia's largest online trading platform. At least four of the company's logistics centers have been targeted.
As a result of the strikes, large fires broke out in the warehouses. According to Russian authorities, 8 people have died and more than 80 have been injured. The most damage was done to Wildberries' largest distribution center in Elektrostal near Moscow.
This has created a catastrophic situation for thousands of Russian sellers on Wildberries, some of whom have lost their main source of income.
Kiev claims that these warehouses were used not only for civilian goods but also for storing and transporting components supplied to the Russian defense industry. Russia and Wildberries deny these accusations, asserting that it is solely about civilian infrastructure.
The largest logistics center of Wildberries in Elektrostal, which covers an area of about 188,000 square meters, has suffered the most from the Ukrainian strikes. Armenian sellers also had goods in this warehouse.
“Krasnodar was new, I haven't had a chance to study it yet, we're talking about 2 million 700 thousand drams. Specifically for me, I currently have goods stored in seven warehouses, of which two are currently missing, meaning I now have my hopes resting on five warehouses:
Recently, Wildberries added a clause to its contract stating that no compensation will be provided for goods damaged or destroyed due to the war, as such cases fall under force majeure circumstances.
Donara Grigoryan says that Armenian sellers need to unite so that their voice can also be heard:
