"My work burned down." Belarusian Businesses Lost Goods in Wildberries Warehouses, But Have More Chances for Compensation Than Russians

On the night of July 18, Ukrainian drones attacked two large Wildberries logistics complexes — in Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, and Kotovsk, Tambov Oblast. In Kotovsk, seven night-shift employees died, and dozens more were injured. It was later reported that one of the injured in Elektrostal died in the hospital. Thus, the death toll rose to eight.

Massive fires broke out in both complexes. Wildberries suspended their operations, and all goods registered in these warehouses were temporarily removed from sale. The company announced it is conducting an inventory and will return with information about the fate of the products later.

Among those whose goods were located in Elektrostal were Belarusian entrepreneurs.

"For two years I was breaking through on this platform"

The owner of the Belarusian store Pando4ka.by said she sent a new batch to Wildberries approximately two and a half weeks before the attack.

"My work burned down today. For two years I was breaking through on this platform, and now my product cards are simply being deactivated if there's no stock in the warehouse," she wrote on Threads.

She did not publicly disclose how much product was in Elektrostal or how much money the entrepreneur lost. But for the business, the problem is not limited to the cost of the burned batch.

When a product disappears from the warehouse, its product card stops generating sales and gradually loses its position in Wildberries' search results. As a result, the entrepreneur risks losing not only the product itself, but also the results of two years of work: reviews, brand recognition, search ranking, and customer flow.

Now Pando4ka.by is urging customers to place orders directly, with delivery via Belposhta and Europochta.

"Wildberries grew into a billion-dollar business precisely because of us, ordinary sellers. I demand that people be compensated for their losses," the entrepreneur stated.

"Most of the bathrobes were stored there"

Belarusian entrepreneur Viktoria Rovbuts, who sells homewear on Wildberries, also reported the possible loss of a significant portion of her products.

"Most of our bathrobes were stored there. We ask for your support, order a bathrobe. We'll sell off the remaining stock and leave this platform," she wrote.

The entrepreneur called what is happening at Wildberries "lawlessness" and stated that after selling off the remaining stock, she wants to stop working with the marketplace.

She also did not specify the size of the potential losses. It is not yet known whether the business has received official confirmation of the product's destruction. Wildberries temporarily removed the goods from sale, but this does not necessarily mean that every single unit listed in Elektrostal was physically burned.

In the comments under Viktoria's post, another entrepreneur reported that her cosmetics were in the warehouse. She noted that she is currently awaiting news. Therefore, it is too early to speak of confirmed loss of this product.

Павялічыць

Wildberries indeed changed the agreement before the attack

Russian sellers' fears are well-founded. The new edition of Wildberries Public Offer Agreement No. 98 was published on July 1, 2026, and came into force on July 7, 11 days before the attack.

A separate clause appeared in the document, according to which Wildberries is exempt from liability if goods were lost as a result of the use, falling, or activation of weapons, military equipment, ammunition, and aircraft, including UAVs, as well as as a result of shelling and explosions.

The previous edition also mentioned force majeure circumstances, but drones and other military threats were not specifically listed in it.

After the attack on July 18, Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim stressed that the company is not obligated to compensate for lost goods. Nevertheless, she promised some assistance:

"Despite the emergency situation and the absence of an obligation to compensate for lost goods, we are already working on the volumes of payments to sellers and other measures of financial support."

Neither the payment amounts, the calculation formula, nor the deadlines are known yet. But there is no talk of guaranteed full compensation.

A different offer applies to Belarusian sellers

An important nuance: the scandalous amendment regarding drones appeared only in the Russian public offer agreement.

For legal entities and individual entrepreneurs registered in Belarus, a separate Wildberries Public Offer Agreement No. 51 applies, which came into force on April 29, 2026. It was not changed in July.

This document does not contain the words "UAV," "drone," "shelling," or a separate list of military risks. It retains the general norm:

"In case of loss of goods, except for cases where such loss is a consequence of force majeure circumstances, Wildberries undertakes to compensate the seller for actual damages."

In addition, the Belarusian public offer agreement stipulates that Belarusian legislation applies to the relationship between the parties.

This does not guarantee automatic payment: Wildberries may try to prove that the drone attack was a force majeure circumstance. However, the company cannot simply refer to the new Russian clause about UAVs if the seller's account is registered to a Belarusian individual entrepreneur or a Belarusian legal entity.

In this case, the decisive factor is not the citizenship of the business owner, but the country of the seller's registration. A Belarusian who operates through a Russian individual entrepreneur or a Russian company is subject to the Russian public offer agreement. If the business is registered in Belarus, the Belarusian version of the agreement applies.

The clause about drones does not yet mean that all goods can be written off

Even the situation of Russian sellers is not as hopeless as it might seem.

Russian lawyers point out: it is not enough for Wildberries to report that a drone hit the warehouse. The company needs to determine where each specific batch was located and exactly what happened to it.

Goods could have been destroyed by a direct hit or explosion, burned after the fire spread, suffered from smoke, water, or warehouse collapse, lost during evacuation and movement, or disappeared from records during inventory.

It will be most difficult to claim money for products directly destroyed in the explosion zone. But if the goods burned due to an inefficient fire extinguishing system, violation of fire compartments, errors during the aftermath liquidation, or simply disappeared from warehouse records, references to the general fact of the attack may be insufficient.

This logic may also be useful for Belarusian sellers. It is important for them to preserve reports of remaining stock on July 17 and 18, supply and movement history, screenshots and video recordings of their personal account, acceptance acts, waybills and delivery numbers, documents confirming the cost price of the products, and Wildberries notifications about changes in product status.

Until the inventory is complete, the data in the personal account may change.

What will happen to customer orders

For people who have already ordered goods from the affected warehouses, the situation is simpler. The dispute between Wildberries and sellers about force majeure does not deprive the buyer of the right to receive the goods or get a refund.

If the product survived, it can be sent through another logistics center — then delivery will simply be delayed. If the product is destroyed, the order should be canceled.

If payment is made after receipt, the money will not be debited. If the buyer made a prepayment, it should be returned to the bank card or WB-wallet.

For now, the order may continue to be displayed as "in transit" or in the warehouse. Wildberries recommends waiting for a status update. If delivery is delayed by more than five days, a cancellation button should appear in the app.

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