APTOPIX Russia Ukraine Wildberries

Ukrainian attacks have targeted Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer. Since Kyiv’s drones first hit sites on July 18, over a dozen of the retailer’s depots have been struck by Ukrainian drones. A total of nine people have been killed and scores more have been injured. These attacks are part of Kyiv's strategy to undermine Russia's 4-year-old full-scale war in Ukraine and make its citizens feel the consequences. Wildberries was founded in 2004 and is a major player in Russia's online retail market. Ukraine alleges the retailer supplies gear that can be used by Russia's military, although the Kremlin denies it.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year that he had “no cards" in the fight against Russia. In the months after that disastrous meeting, Trump warmly welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and seemed ready to push Ukraine into an unfavorable peace deal. But since the meeting, Ukraine has shown it can take the war to Russia. In one operation, drones smuggled into the country destroyed or damaged Russian bombers worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Kyiv has ramped up a campaign of longer-range strikes, increased production of weapons, targeted Russian air defenses, and hit oil infrastructure and warehouses of a major retailer. But as Ukraine’s strikes have intensified, so have Russia’s.