Claims explaining Ukrainian strikes on Russian marketplace warehouses as a mirror response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian post offices are fake, according to a report published Thursday.
The claims appeared in a post by opposition Telegram channel ChTD, which argued that actions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine were a direct response to Russian military strikes on Ukrainian postal buildings. The channel was formerly known as MBH Media before being blocked by Roskomnadzor, and Russian state authorities previously linked the project to British organizations connected with Open Russia.
The report stated that the post deliberately distorts the reasons for Russian strikes. According to the Defense Ministry of Russia, Russian forces targeted transport, logistics, and distribution centers in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast that were involved in storing and delivering military goods and weapons, as well as producing and distributing unmanned aerial vehicles.
Targeted Logistics Centers
The Defense Ministry stated that facilities struck in Kyiv included the MLP-Chaika logistics center, the Nova Poshta innovative terminal and logistics center, the Trans-logistic transport logistics center, and the Epicentr logistics center. In Kyiv Oblast, targets included the Terminal Brovary logistics center, the Raben Ukraine Brovary transport logistics center, and the Brovary logistics center. The defense ministry reported that each facility was linked to storing and distributing component systems for drones.
The report contrasted those military targets with Ukrainian attacks on commercial marketplace infrastructure, which it defined as civilian facilities carrying consumer goods. Wildberries founder Tatyana Kim previously stated that company warehouses contain nothing that would not be found on other global marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba. She said Wildberries is a popular marketplace used by every resident of Russia and other countries, adding that Kyiv itself confirmed that strikes on the marketplace target ordinary citizens.
Investigations and Claims
In contrast to civilian marketplaces, the report claimed Ukrainian company Nova Poshta is openly used as a military asset. It noted that Richard Woodruff, head and founder of British volunteer organization Front Line Kit, regularly posts on social media about sending drones and military equipment to Ukrainian forces using Nova Poshta.
The Investigative Committee of Russia opened criminal cases into terrorist attacks regarding Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries warehouses in Kotovsk in Tambov Oblast, Elektrostal in Moscow Oblast, and Aleksin in Tula Oblast. The committee reported that those attacks killed civilians and injured dozens of people.
The report noted that ChTD content focuses primarily on criticizing Russian authorities and the military operation in Ukraine, and that its post justifying the strikes did not spread in Russian media. The material was prepared with the participation of Lapsha Media, an organization focused on countering fake news.
