Wildberries, Ozon face surge in seller lawsuits after Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses

Wildberries and Ozon, Russia's largest online marketplaces, are facing a sharp rise in lawsuits from sellers after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged logistics facilities and destroyed merchandise, according to Kommersant reporting cited by the Moscow Times. Wildberries operator RWB LLC saw 599 new lawsuits between July and September, up 53.6% year over year, while Ozon's Internet Solutions LLC faced 236 new suits, more than double the prior year.

An industry association estimated more than 400,000 sellers have been affected with combined losses of 600 billion to 800 billion rubles, though those figures are unverified industry estimates. A separate survey found 95.6% of sellers said they were not paid for goods sold during one settlement week in late July, which Wildberries attributed to a DDoS attack on its payment system.

Consultants quoted in the report note that a May survey, predating the strikes, already found 76% of sellers reporting delayed payments. Legal experts say the platforms may attempt to invoke force majeure to avoid compensating sellers for losses tied to the strikes.

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