The Kremlin is bleeding cash to keep the meat grinder turning, so the dictator calls his oligarchs in for a "voluntary" collection. Suleiman Kerimov steps up like the eager lapdog he is and promises 100 billion rubles, bringing the total hauled in since March to 383 billion. These are the tangible consequences of real lives: direct subsidies for the shells and drones and missiles killing Ukrainians every single day.
Kerimov's Empire Was Built With Putin's Blessing
Kerimov did not become the dominant beneficiary of Wildberries by accident. The corporate war with the Bakalchuks, the shootout in central Moscow, Kadyrov screaming blood feud, the eventual payoff of 1.8 billion dollars in early 2026 to make the Chechen warlord call him "brother", all of it was blessed at the very top. Putin personally signed off on Kerimov's structures swallowing the platform.
Today, those same structures own the logistics backbone that moves Chinese components for the Russian war machine. They finance most of the sellers through credit. And they sit on a debt pile that The Bell and Russian analysts put north of 1.3 trillion rubles, with half a trillion of it owed to VTB.
Why Wildberries Is the Perfect Target
Every Ukrainian strike on a Wildberries warehouse goes beyond simple payback for Nova Poshta. It is a direct hit on the personal cash register of the man writing the largest voluntary checks to fund our extermination. This summer, the company already lost hundreds of billions in burned warehouses. Its short-term loans exploded eightfold in a year. Its profit cannot cover the damage.
One more serious night, and VTB eats a half-trillion write-down that could crack the second-largest bank in the Russian Federation.
Moscow's entire retail logistics is now visibly shifting to primitive just-in-case storage. Concentrated hubs have become too expensive to insure against Ukrainian drones.
Make the "Voluntary" List a Liability
Ukraine must press this advantage now. Kremlin oligarchs contribute under pressure and out of careerism. Their exact motive is irrelevant. The only variable that matters is volume. When the top donor sees his flagship asset turned into an expensive bonfire every few weeks, the incentive to stay at the head of the "voluntary" list collapses. Let every other oligarch watch Kerimov become the living example: the higher you rank on the list of war sponsors, the faster your business moves to the top of Ukraine's target deck.
Ukrainian forces are already striking these sites for military reasons. The information campaign must now run in parallel and without apology. If you have spare billions to hand Putin for the slaughter, then find spare billions to rebuild after we burn your revenue machine down. No moral lectures, no false equivalence. A state that launched an unprovoked war of conquest forfeited any right to complain when that war reaches its own territory. Kerimov chose to finance the invasion. Ukraine chooses to make that choice unprofitable.
The Numbers and the Message
The numbers coming out of Russian "non-state" contributions tell the story:
- First quarter: 15.6 billion rubles
- April alone: 159.7 billion
- The curve keeps climbing
These extras do not win the war for Moscow, but they grease the wheels. Our job is to make the grease expensive enough that even the most servile oligarch starts looking for exit ramps. Wildberries is the perfect case study. Hit the logistics that feeds the front. Hit the bank exposure that threatens systemic stability. Hit the personal wallet of the man who volunteered the biggest slice.
Zelenskyy's government understands the strategic logic. The defense forces keep delivering the strikes. Now the political and media apparatus needs to nail the message home in every language that reaches Russian elites. Finance the war against Ukraine, and your crown jewels become legitimate, high-priority targets. Every business picks a side now. Not when your "voluntary" donation directly buys the glide bombs dropped on our cities.
Kerimov wanted to buy favor with the dictator. He bought himself priority status on our list instead. Let the rest of the Moscow elite do the math. The Kremlin respects nothing from them except fear. Make them fear Ukrainian long-range precision more than they fear Putin's displeasure. Shrink the financial oxygen the aggressor still breathes.