In the early hours of July 18, Ukrainian forces attacked two large Wildberries warehouses—one in Elektrostal, Moscow region, and another in Kotovsk, a small town in the Tambov region. The attacks left 80 people injured, with eight employees killed and 25 wounded at the Kotovsk facility.
A correspondent from the outlet 'Bereg' traveled to Tambov to see how the attack affected residents. Meduza publishes the full text.
Getting to the burned warehouse in Kotovsk proved difficult. Two taxi drivers canceled orders through the app; a third, waiting at a stand near the regional Duma, refused to take the trip: 'I'm not going there, sorry. There are cops there. They can pick on anyone, and I don't need that.'
At a Wildberries pickup point in central Tambov, an employee said deliveries were delayed and some orders had been canceled since the attack. The pickup point itself was operating normally, but customers were unhappy: 'Why is my order delayed? Why was my order canceled? I'll sue you!' she recounted complaints. 'Don't they read the news?' she added.
Sellers trading on Wildberries hope to sue for compensation. Lawyer Mikhail (name changed) said his schedule has been packed since July 18: 'Affected individual entrepreneurs are coming in droves.' According to him, before the attacks the city 'lived without noticing [the war].' 'But now, when it's affected someone's salary, someone's business, their little orders... Well, you get it,' the lawyer said.
Wildberries management announced payments of two million rubles to families of the deceased and one million rubles to those in serious condition. Tambov Region Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov promised 1.5 million rubles from the regional budget for each deceased employee's family, 600,000 for the seriously wounded, and 300,000 for injured warehouse workers.
Marketplace head Tatyana Kim said the company is 'working out the amounts of payments to sellers and other financial support measures.' According to a Wildberries statement, sellers will not receive compensation. Instead, the marketplace offers free delivery of goods to regional warehouses, preferential loans and deferrals on existing ones (which must be taken from WB Bank), and free insurance consultations (provided by Sber).
Lawyer Mikhail believes it is possible to win compensation from the marketplace in court: 'We need to examine the wording in the new offer contract regarding force majeure in court.'
One local resident who works as a loader told the correspondent that after the attack 'there's nowhere to go, you know? They blew up the warehouse.' According to him, he does odd jobs on construction sites, but there is less work now.