Armenian sellers suffer heavy losses after Ukrainian drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses

Armenian business owners who sell through Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries say they have suffered substantial financial losses after Ukrainian drone strikes targeted two of the company's warehouses in Russia, according to social media posts and company statements.

Some sellers said the value of the destroyed or damaged inventory amounted to several million Armenian drams.

Kristine Boyajyan, an Armenian seller, said in a social media post that her goods had been stored in one of the affected warehouses.

"The worst part is that on July 7 Wildberries adopted a policy stating that in force majeure situations like this the company would not compensate sellers for their losses," she wrote, adding that she had millions' worth of merchandise in storage.

Wildberries later said its Koledino logistics center was operating normally and that all core business processes continued without disruption.

Earlier, Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim said the company was developing compensation and financial support mechanisms for sellers whose goods had been stored at the Elektrostal and Kotovsk logistics centers.

Kim said that although the company had no legal obligation to compensate sellers for goods lost in the extraordinary circumstances, it was assessing the scale of payments and additional financial support measures.

Details on compensation, support measures and the application process would be published on the sellers' portal, she said.

Kim also announced financial assistance for families of those killed and for people injured in the attacks on the logistics centers. Families of those killed will receive 2 million roubles ($25,000), while those seriously injured will receive 1 million roubles, according to the company.

Ukrainian drones attacked two Wildberries warehouses overnight on July 18, one in the Moscow region and another in Russia's Tambov region, leaving at least eight people killed and more than 80 injured.