Ozon shares plunge 30% as Ukraine expands drone campaign to retail

Ukraine's drone campaign has moved from Wildberries to Ozon, sending Russia's second-largest online retailer's shares down nearly 30 percent in a single session.

Ozon shares plunged nearly 30 percent on the Moscow Exchange on Monday after Ukrainian drones struck four of its logistics centers across southern Russia, extending Kyiv's campaign against Russian e-commerce infrastructure beyond Wildberries.

"Systematic strikes on storage centers holding dual-use goods are disrupting the enemy's logistics and negatively impacting Russia's economy as a whole," Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said via social media on Saturday.

The attacks hit Ozon facilities in the Krasnodar region, Dagestan, Adygeya and Stavropol, with fires reported at hubs in Enem and Dagestan. At least three teenagers were killed in the Krasnodar region, according to Russian officials, while six children were hospitalized. Ozon evacuated more than 500 employees from a logistics center in the Samara region after a Saturday drone strike caused a fire there. Shares in AFK Sistema, Ozon's largest shareholder, fell more than 13 percent.

The combined revenue of Russia's three largest online marketplaces — Wildberries, Ozon and Yandex Market — reached approximately $140.3 billion by the end of last year, equivalent to more than 5 percent of Russia's gross domestic product, according to the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a Kyiv-based think tank. Ukraine has now struck 15 Wildberries logistics hubs since mid-July before pivoting to Ozon, a shift that threatens to disrupt supply chains across Russia's retail sector and add fresh pressure to an economy already strained by four-and-a-half years of war.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Monday it had observed evidence of Ukrainian forces intensifying efforts against Ozon warehouses since Saturday, pivoting from heavy attacks against Wildberries logistics centers that began in mid-July. "After Ukrainian units hit 15 of Wildberries' largest logistics hubs, it's now Ozon's turn," Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said.

Ozon, founded in 1998, has grown into a major player in Russia's e-commerce sector. The company said via Telegram that the attack in the Samara region caused a fire in the warehouse and it evacuated more than 500 employees "within minutes."

Drone campaign targets Russia's wartime economy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously justified attacks on Wildberries warehouses by saying the hubs were involved in providing Russian forces with drone components, navigation equipment and other military components. Russia's Putin, in comments published over the weekend, said Ukraine has opened "Pandora's box" with its strikes on Russian economic targets, pledging to hit back at Kyiv's "most sensitive economic sectors."

The Moscow Exchange index dropped to 2,092 points at the start of Monday's trading, 2 percent below the previous session's closing level. Ozon shares are included in the blue-chip index, a measure of the largest and most liquid Russian stocks.

Russia has broadly defied economic expectations through four-and-a-half years of full-scale war with Ukraine, although analysts have suggested that cracks in Putin's wartime economy are becoming harder to hide. The Kremlin's heavy reliance on military spending, higher taxes and subsidized bank lending have all been cited as areas of concern.

The last time Ukrainian strikes targeted a major Russian commercial operator at this scale was in July, when attacks on Wildberries logistics hubs in the Krasnodar and Stavropol regions triggered a wave of insurance claims and supply chain disruptions across the retail sector. The pivot to Ozon — a publicly traded company — now exposes the financial damage more directly, with the nearly 30 percent single-day share decline reflecting investor concern over the sustainability of Russia's e-commerce logistics network.

If Ukraine sustains its current tempo of strikes, Ozon faces the prospect of prolonged operational disruption across its southern and central Russian facilities, potentially forcing the company to reroute inventory, absorb higher insurance costs and delay expansion plans. The Kremlin's pledge to retaliate against Ukrainian economic targets raises the risk of escalation that could further destabilize regional markets and currency flows.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.