Key facts
- Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.
- The cyberattack, conducted Aug. 10-11 by the Cyber Corps community, disrupted customer services and payment processing.
- Wildberries sellers reported delays in receiving payments following the operation.
- Wildberries blamed payment delays on unspecified technical problems and extended processing times.
- HUR stated the cyberattack amplified the effects of previous strikes on Wildberries warehouses.
- HUR accused Wildberries of supporting Russian military logistics and financing Moscow's war.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, claimed on Aug. 15 that its Cyber Corps community conducted a cyberattack on Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries on Aug. 10-11. The operation reportedly disrupted the company's main remote customer-service channel and partially destabilized its payment infrastructure, leading to a large number of user complaints, including an inability to complete financial transactions.
While the full extent of the disruption could not be independently verified, Wildberries sellers did report delays in receiving payments in the days following the alleged cyberattack. Wildberries representatives attributed these delays to unspecified "technical problems" and extended the processing period for future payments from five to seven business days, according to Russian outlet Vyorstka, as reported by The Moscow Times.
HUR stated that the cyberoperation amplified the effects of previous Ukrainian strikes against Wildberries warehouses, causing further losses for the company. The agency accused Wildberries of supporting Russian military logistics and helping to finance Moscow's war against Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have targeted the company's logistics infrastructure since mid-July, with reported strikes against facilities in Vladimir, Tula, Sverdlovsk, and Voronezh oblasts in August. A logistics hub in Voronezh Oblast was targeted on Aug. 11, the second day of the reported cyberoperation.
Wildberries and the Kremlin have denied that the company supplies the Russian military. However, the marketplace has offered dual-use and military-related products, including body armor, night-vision equipment, and fiber-optic cable usable for drones. Wildberries is Russia's largest online retailer, handling over 20 million orders daily from more than 1 million vendors.