Wildberries founder and head of its management company RVB, Tatyana Kim, recorded a video address to entrepreneurs working with the platform, calling the attacks on warehouses "circumstances of insurmountable force" and saying that, under the law, losses of goods are therefore not subject to compensation.
According to Kim, whether or not a force majeure clause is included in the offer is irrelevant. She stressed that all payments the company makes are "goodwill," not an obligation. The volume of such compensation is not disclosed.
Kim said the company has already made two tranches of support payments to sellers whose goods were damaged in the attacks. The second wave covered nearly 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses, many of which have already received accruals. For large partners, the company introduced an increased regular-customer discount at its own expense and credit holidays at WB Bank.
The entrepreneur said the company has discussed comprehensive support measures for those affected with the Russian government. A common system is now being developed under which everyone will receive help; specific measures are promised to be announced in the coming days. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the government is in dialogue with Wildberries, but no decisions have been made yet. According to Reuters, support could be provided in the form of loans, tax relief, or subsidies.
Kim also said the warehouses are equipped with all available means of protection and "successfully repel most attacks." As an example, she cited an attack on a warehouse in Yekaterinburg, in which, she said, more than 200 fixed-wing drones were involved. She urged entrepreneurs to prepare a "reassembly plan," effectively acknowledging that the uninterrupted operation of their businesses is not guaranteed in the near future.
The Ukrainian side explains the strikes by saying the marketplace is a "vital component" of Russian logistics, used among others by Russian volunteers to purchase military equipment, including radios, body armor, and drone components. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the warehouses legitimate military targets because, according to his data, military-purpose goods were sold there.