Russia's second-biggest online retailer targeted in Ukrainian strikes

Warehouses belonging to Russia's second-largest online retailer have been hit by a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes.

Key points

• Russia has targeted Ukraine's civilian infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, and recent Russian attacks have hit Ukrainian warehouses and cargo terminals.
• Both firms have been described as "Russia's Amazon" and it is estimated that they are employed by 85-90% of Russia's economically active population.
• Ozon workers in Adygeysk, in the Adygea region, and Nevinnomyssk, in the Stavropol region, have been evacuated.
• "After Ukrainian units hit 15 of the largest logistics hubs of Wildberries, it was Ozon's turn."
• Founded in 1998, Ozon is one of Russia's first online retailers.

Ozon remarked its logistics facilities in the southern regions of Krasnodar, Dagestan, Stavropol and Adygea were on fire and a number of individuals had been injured after overnight strikes.

Ukraine has for weeks struck sites belonging to Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, describing the firm as a legitimate target since it supplied components to the military. It moscow denies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin remarked on Saturday that Ukraine had opened "Pandora's box" by striking economic targets and that Russia would hit back at Kyiv's "most sensitive economic sectors".

Russia has targeted Ukraine's civilian infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022, and recent Russian attacks have hit Ukrainian warehouses and cargo terminals. Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.

After a drone attack at around 05: 00 local time (02: 00 GMT) on Monday, ozon remarked "a fire broke out" at a logistics centre in Makhachkala, in the southern region of Dagestan.

Meanwhile, the firm stated earlier that a "major fire" was burning at one of its logistics centres in the city of Krasnodar, 700km (435 miles) to the east of the Dagestan site.

Russia's defence ministry remarked three children had been killed in Krasnodar after a Ukrainian drone attack. While six more children had been taken to hospital, russia's children's rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova remarked they were aged 13, 15 and 16. Russia's businesses under strain from Ukraine's attacks on Wildberries.

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Meanwhile, Ozon workers in Adygeysk, in the Adygea region, and Nevinnomyssk, in the Stavropol region, have been evacuated.

Videos posted on social media of the Ozon attacks have been verified by the BBC. While another indicates a sizeable plume of smoke and flames rising from its warehouse in Dagestan, one demonstrates a drone hitting a warehouse in the Orenburg region.

While shares in its major shareholder, private equity firm AFK Sistema, fell by almost 13%, shares in Ozon fell by as much as 12% on the Moscow Exchange on Monday morning.

When asked on Monday whether the Russian administration would provide state backing to Ozon, the Kremlin noted it was "working with business representatives to develop various options for providing support in this difficult situation".

In practice, the overnight strikes comes a day after Ozon's site in the Samara region was hit. The firm stated a number of its workers had been injured.

After that strike, Ukraine's defence ministry stated on Saturday: Systematic strikes on dual-use goods storage centres complicate the enemy's logistics and negatively affect the Russian economy as a whole.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine's Odesa region, overnight strikes targeted food storage facilities and energy infrastructure leading to five individuals being injured, the region's head Oleg Kiper stated on Telegram.

Founded in 1998, Ozon is one of Russia's first online retailers. The firm is second only to Wildberries in terms of scale and presence, with its pick-up posts and delivery boxes stationed nationwide.

Both the Ozon and Wildberries logos are often seen together in Russia at shared pick-up points.

Meanwhile, the targeting of these online retailers has had the effect of bringing the war closer to ordinary Russians.

In plenty of remote places lacking accessible shops, Russians depend on them for much of their clothes and household appliances.

But unlike Amazon, which sells goods directly alongside its marketplace business, Wildberries and Ozon act almost entirely as marketplaces, connecting independent sellers with buyers throughout Russia, storing and delivering their goods and handling payments.

This means plenty of of the losses incurred in the attacks have been borne by those businesses.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin has denied that online platforms are applied for army supplies.

In short, russia' s second-biggest online retailer targeted in Ukrainian strikes is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.