Moscow: Sellers operating on Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries may have suffered losses of up to 279.64 billion rubles ($3.5 billion) following a series of drone attacks on the company's warehouses, Forbes Russia reported Monday. At least 17% of the marketplace's warehouse infrastructure has been damaged since mid-July.

According to Anadolu Agency, potential losses are preliminarily estimated at between 214.88 billion and 279.64 billion rubles ($2.7 billion and $3.5 billion). This estimate was provided by a leading analyst at market research agency Data Insight, as cited by Forbes. The calculation was based on compensation data from a 2024 fire at Wildberries' 112,000-square-meter warehouse in Shushary, where sellers received nearly 35 billion rubles for destroyed inventory.

Wildberries logistics facilities across several Russian regions have reportedly faced near-daily drone attacks since mid-July. The first strikes hit warehouses in Kotovsk in the Tambov region and Elektrostal in the Moscow region on July 18, with subsequent attacks or evacuations reported at facilities in more than 10 regions through August 2. At least eight people were killed and dozens were injured in these attacks, as reported by Forbes.

Data Insight estimates that between 893,000 and 1.15 million square meters of warehouse space was damaged, which is equivalent to 17.2%-22.2% of the 5.2 million square meters of logistics infrastructure publicly reported by RWB, Wildberries' parent company. The cost of restoring the damaged facilities could range from 62.5 billion to 80.8 billion rubles, based on an estimated reconstruction cost of around 70,000 rubles per square meter.

Some of the affected warehouses have already resumed operations, including facilities in Kotovsk, Yekaterinburg, and Sarapul. Wildberries stated it had paid more than 40 million rubles to affected sellers as of July 28. Initial payments targeted 88,000 sellers with the lowest turnover, while a second round announced on July 30 covered 97,000 entrepreneurs. However, several sellers told Forbes that the payments covered only a small portion of their losses and that the company had not clearly explained how compensation was calculated.

Wildberries has not publicly detailed compensation plans for medium-sized and large sellers, which account for a substantial share of sales on the platform. The Russian government has instructed relevant ministries, the central bank, and business representatives to prepare support measures for affected entrepreneurs by August 10.