Vendors revolt against Putin after drone attacks destroy businesses, leave them uncompensated

Vendors on Russia's largest e-commerce platform, Wildberries, are expressing outrage online following drone attacks on distribution centers in Kotovsk and Elektrostal. They are directing their anger at the Kremlin and President Putin, as they face significant financial losses with no prospect of compensation.

Vendors report that goods stored in the affected Wildberries distribution centers, valued in the millions of dollars, have been destroyed. However, the platform recently updated its terms of service, removing its obligation to compensate sellers for items lost due to military equipment damage. These changes took effect on July 7, just before the attacks.

Publicly available information suggests that Wildberries' owners include Anton Vaino, head of the Russian Presidential Administration, and Alexey Gromov, deputy chief of the Presidential Administration. Some reports suggest that these individuals may have used privileged information about potential attacks to shift all losses onto the sellers, who generate 60% of Wildberries' turnover.

Angry comments from hundreds of sellers have flooded Russian social media. One vendor lamented losing 2 million rubles worth of merchandise, stating, "To hell with you, Putin, with your SVO. I had goods worth 2 million rubles there – no compensation from Wildberries or the government. This is money for cat food and nuts, but, as always, there is no money for people. People don't matter." Another seller reported losing 1,500 items valued at approximately 1.7 million rubles, noting that Wildberries had recently forced them to sign an agreement waiving compensation rights in case of drone attacks.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the Ukrainian drone attack on a logistics center in the Tambov region rose to eight, with 24 others injured, according to regional governor Evgeny Pervyshov. Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian territory in recent months, often targeting logistics and hydrocarbon infrastructure to disrupt Moscow's war financing.

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To hell with you, Putin, with your SVO. I had goods worth 2 million rubles there – no compensation from Wildberries or the government. This is money for cat food and nuts, but, as always, there is no money for people. People don't matter