Ozon warehouses burn along with Putin's personal money, investigation finds
Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Getty Images)
Attacks by Ukrainian drones on the infrastructure of Ozon, Russia’s second-largest marketplace, are causing direct financial losses to the personal wealth of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Who formally and actually owns the marketplace
According to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, Ozon’s largest official shareholder is the company O23, which owns a 34% stake and purchased it from the international investment fund Baring Vostok.
Russian businessman Alexander Chachava has been publicly identified as the ultimate owner of this stake. However, an analysis of financial statements indicates that he is merely a frontman.
The financial structure of the 38 billion ruble buyout agreement runs through a chain of legal entities:
- O23 is owned by Corporation 42.
- Corporation 42 is owned by the Stratosfera investment group.
To complete the deal, Stratosfera took out a loan of 51.2 billion rubles.
Russian accounting records show that the only company that issued a loan for a comparable amount was Optima.
Links to Putin’s funds
Investigators found that Optima’s management consists entirely of trusted associates of the Russian president’s inner circle.
The company’s CEO, Darya Brilyakova, and her predecessors worked in business structures linked to Putin’s nephew Mikhail Shelomov, oligarch Yuri Kovalchuk and the president’s former mistress, Svetlana Krivonogikh.
The source of the 51.2 billion rubles provided to Optima was an interest-free loan from Delta, a company officially owned by Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko.
"Neither Vladimir Putin’s name nor his accounts contain the stolen billions. The system works differently: his personal money is kept by his closest friends and 'wallets,' to whom he has handed out pieces of the economy," the investigators said.
Timchenko is one of the main managers of Putin’s slush fund.
His companies were previously used to acquire other assets, including the Baltika brewery, as well as to finance the construction of residences and the private needs of the Russian dictator’s family.
Attacks on logistics facilities in Russia
Massive strikes on logistics complexes in Russia have been ongoing since mid-summer 2026. Initially, facilities belonging to Russia’s largest marketplace, Wildberries, came under systematic attack. The company lost 40% of its warehouse space, with losses estimated at one trillion rubles.
Later, Ukrainian drones began striking Ozon warehouses in the Samara region, Makhachkala and Adygea.
Investigators emphasize that the war has served as cover for the largest asset redistribution in Russian leadership history. Under this scheme, foreign businesses are being pushed out of the country, while their assets fall under the control of Putin’s inner circle.
Russian threats and attacks on warehouses
Earlier, the Kremlin issued threats against Ukraine over attacks on civilian infrastructure.
In particular, the Russian leader’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow intended to carry out regular strikes on Kyiv, accusing Ukraine of attacks on the Ozon marketplace.
Meanwhile, large-scale incidents at logistics facilities continue across Russia.
Recently, a fire broke out at an Ozon warehouse in Blagoveshchensk, Republic of Bashkortostan, following reports of explosions. Local authorities have not yet disclosed the official cause of the fire.
