Founder of Russian retailer Wildberries calls Ukrainian attacks 'acts of terrorism'

MOSCOW, July 31 - Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian online retailer Wildberries amount to "acts of terrorism" against civilians, affecting millions of people in Russia and other countries, the company's founder and CEO, Tatyana Kim, said on Friday.

Ukraine has attacked more than a dozen Wildberries sites since July 18 in a bid to disrupt the operations of the company, a linchpin of Russia's consumer economy.

Kim said businesses across 10 countries had suffered significant losses as a result of the attacks and that Wildberries was working with the Russian government to mitigate the impact on vendors using its platform.

"A comprehensive scheme is currently being developed to ensure that everyone receives assistance. The details of these measures will be announced in the coming days," Kim said.

She said the company was rapidly restructuring its logistics network and redistributing goods across various logistics facilities to maintain delivery times and inventory turnover despite the disruption.

Ukraine initially said it targeted Wildberries because of its role in supplying the Russian military.

Responding to accusations that Wildberries sells dual-use goods, products that can have both civilian and military applications, Kim said the company did not offer anything that was not also available on major global e-commerce platforms such as Amazon or Alibaba.

Kim said the attacks were aimed at civilians and that their real purpose was to "exert pressure, destabilise the situation, and cause panic and shock among a large number of Russians." REUTERS