Ukraine Targets Ozon; Shares Fall 30%
- Ukraine struck six Ozon logistics facilities across southern Russia within three days, injuring several people and triggering an almost 30% share price fall.
- Financial analysts warned that Ozon's main shareholder AFK Sistema, unlike Wildberries' backer VTB, lacks the capacity to provide substantial recovery support.
- Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree enabling the Russian state to seize control of companies deemed too poorly protected against Ukrainian drone attacks.
Ukraine has struck six Ozon logistics facilities within three days, sending the Russian e-commerce giant's shares down by almost 30% on Monday and deepening a campaign that has already crippled Ozon's larger domestic rival Wildberries.
Six facilities hit across southern Russia
The latest wave of attacks brought the confirmed total of struck Ozon sites to six. The company said a logistics hub in Makhachkala, in the republic of Dagestan, was set ablaze and halted operations after a drone strike in which it reported "several people" were injured. A second facility caught fire in Enem, on the outskirts of Krasnodar, while workers were evacuated from warehouses in Adygeysk in the Adygeya region and in Nevinnomyssk in the Stavropol region. Two earlier strikes had already halted operations at Ozon logistics centres in the Samara and Orenburg regions.
Financial exposure and the Wildberries comparison
Financial analysts noted a significant distinction between Ozon and its stricken competitor. Wildberries has the backing of state-owned bank VTB, whereas Ozon's principal shareholder, AFK Sistema, carries a large debt burden and is, according to analysts, unlikely to provide substantial financial support to the retailer in the event of sustained damage.
Kremlin response and state seizure powers
Before the latest round of Ozon strikes, Vladimir Putin had pledged state assistance for the restoration of damaged warehouses at what he described as "a new technological level", and instructed the government to devise a recovery programme for the sector. The Kremlin has also moved to grant itself broader powers through a presidential decree enabling the state to take control of companies — including retailers, fuel firms, and transport operators — deemed insufficiently protected against Ukrainian drone attacks. The precise scope and conditions of that decree remained partially unclear at the time of reporting. Separately, the European Union imposed sanctions on the financial units of both Ozon and Wildberries on 24 July. The campaign represents a sustained and escalating Ukrainian effort to degrade Russian commercial logistics infrastructure well beyond the front lines.
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