Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries is accelerating its logistics footprint in Central Asia as Ukrainian drone strikes devastate its domestic infrastructure. This shift mirrors a historical pattern from World War II, when Soviet authorities relocated critical industries and populations to the Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia to escape the European frontlines.
In July 2026, Ukraine began targeting major Wildberries warehousing facilities in Russia. By mid-August, Ukrainian drones had struck at least 20 Wildberries hubs, many of them located near Moscow. These attacks caused severe financial and physical damage. According to the Moscow-based e-commerce consultancy Data Insight, Wildberries lost 480 billion rubles ($5.7 billion) worth of goods and a third of its total warehouse space.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy defended the strikes in late July, asserting that the company's warehouses are "involved in supplying the Russian military with drone components, navigation equipment, and other gear."
While the summer 2026 attacks have intensified the commercial logic for securing alternative facilities, Wildberries' expansion into Central Asia actually predates this specific crisis. The company began its push into Kazakhstan in 2023, opening its first logistics center in Astana, followed by a warehouse complex in Almaty. By September 2023, Wildberries opened a sorting center in Uralsk, marking its fifth logistics hub in the country.
Similarly, in May 2023, Wildberries launched its first logistics center in Uzbekistan's Tashkent region, with plans for a second facility in Fergana. In October 2023, the e-commerce firm announced another logistics hub would be built in the Tashkent region. Beyond acting as a safe haven, Central Asia represents a massive consumer market and a strategic bridge deeper into Asia for Russian businesses.
However, expanding in the region carries geopolitical risks. Ukraine has previously targeted infrastructure impacting Central Asian interests, such as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) near Novorossiysk, which was struck in November 2025 and July 2026. The CPC strikes, aimed at cutting Russian oil revenues, caused collateral damage to Kazakhstan's oil exports, drawing sharp pushback from both Astana and Washington. In February 2026, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, revealed that Kyiv received a formal demarche from Washington warning of risks to "American investments which are being performed through Kazakhstan."
Following this pushback, Bloomberg reported in early August, citing a U.S. official, that Ukraine agreed to avoid striking CPC infrastructure vital to Kazakh oil exports in the Black Sea, as well as non-Russian vessels not carrying Russian cargo or facing separate sanctions.
While it remains highly unlikely that Ukrainian drones would target Wildberries facilities directly inside Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, such an escalation is not entirely impossible as the conflict continues. However, striking these Central Asian hubs would severely damage Kyiv’s diplomatic ties with regional governments and Washington, which previously intervened on Kazakhstan's behalf.
