The Ukrainian Defense Forces plan to completely paralyze the work of the largest Russian marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon. The main goal of these operations is to destroy the logistics of the enemy army and provoke a large-scale collapse of the aggressor country's banking system.
The Ukrainian Defense Forces plan to completely paralyze the work of the largest Russian marketplaces Wildberries and Ozon. The main goal of these operations is to destroy the logistics of the enemy army and provoke a large-scale collapse of the aggressor country's banking system.
Such intentions were announced by the head of deftech company Fire Point, Depnis Shtilerman, during an interview with Dmitry Gordon. According to him, systemic pressure on the weaknesses of the Russian economy is a mandatory step in the war.
As the company's head explained, Wildberries is one of the largest borrowers in Russia. Its collapse will inevitably lead to the collapse of a large number of financial institutions, including VTB Bank. The latter, according to the speaker, made a big bet on the marketplace, expecting to automatically get its multi-million dollar customer base.
“VTB was already doing poorly, and now trillions of rubles in loans will be irretrievably lost. And this could put the second largest bank in Russia at risk. This needs to continue,” Shtilerman emphasized, adding that Ozon should follow Wildberries.
In addition to the economic blow and the destruction of businesses that support the occupying army with their taxes, blocking online retailers has direct military meaning. Stillerman noted that these platforms play a critical role in the logistics of the Russian group. In particular, they provide delivery channels for drone components that the Russians assemble directly in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
As a reminder, since July 18, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have attacked at least ten Wildberries logistics centers — in Elektrostal, Kotovsk, Koledino, Krasnodar, Nevinnomyssk, Voronezh, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and occupied Simferopol. More than 20% of Wildberries warehouses were damaged. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that these facilities were used to supply the Russian army with drone components, navigation equipment, and supplies.
