Wildberries, Ozon face a new huge problem after Ukraine's military operation
Wildberries and Ozon are facing more than just strikes (photo: Getty Images)
Russia's largest online marketplaces, Wildberries and Ozon, are facing a wave of seller lawsuits after Ukrainian strikes hit their warehouse infrastructure, according to Kommersant.
RVB Limited Liability Company, representing Wildberries, received 599 lawsuits between July 15 and September 15.
Importantly, that is 53.6% more than during the same period last year.
As for Ozon's legal entity, 236 new lawsuits were filed during the period. Their number more than doubled compared with the same period last year.
Most of the claims were filed by small companies that sell goods online. Systematic attacks on Wildberries' logistics facilities began on July 18, while Ozon warehouses started coming under attack on August 25.
The International Association for Marketplace and Entrepreneur Development said more than 400,000 sellers were affected by the attacks. The association estimates total losses at 600 billion to 800 billion rubles.
The Marketplace Sellers Union said the number of lawsuits against Wildberries and Ozon has increased because sellers lost their goods.
Mikhail Boldyrev, head of the Digital-prodvizhenie (Digital-promotion) practice at KSK Group, said some of the legal claims are directly related to attacks on the marketplaces' infrastructure.
According to him, Wildberries' sellers are using damage reports prepared by the company.
Based on those reports, they are filing claims and attempting to challenge the platform's position, which refuses to accept liability.
Notably, overnight, Ukraine carried out its largest attack on Moscow.
One of Russia's key oil industry facilities and a logistics facility came under attack by Ukrainian forces.
On the evening of September 20, the Russian Defense Ministry officially acknowledged that Ukraine had attacked the country with thousands of drones and missiles.
