A Russian strike damaged the Ukrainian warehouse of a company that helps fund Russia's budget. As a result of Russia’s massive August 20 attack, a warehouse storing Yves Rocher cosmetics in Ukraine was heavily damaged.

According to Leave Russia, French cosmetics brand Yves Rocher continues to operate in Russia. Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has included Yves Rocher on its list of international sponsors of war.

In 2022, the company’s Russian subsidiary, Yves Rocher Vostok, paid approximately $6 million in taxes to the Russian budget, contributing to the financing of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

At the same time, Yves Rocher’s Ukrainian office and stores continue to operate.

The strike disrupted Ukrainian operations

“We are temporarily suspending online orders and working to restore operations,” the company said.

Customers who have already placed orders will be informed of their status once the attack's consequences are assessed.

Yves Rocher boutiques remain open, although the range of products available may be limited, the company adds.

The strike on Yves Rocher’s warehouse is part of a broader Russian campaign against Ukrainian businesses and critical commercial infrastructure. Russian attacks have repeatedly targeted companies involved in food production, storage, and distribution, disrupting supply chains and local economies.

As a result of the strikes, some food products are already becoming scarce in shops. People are also clearing products off the shelves, apparently stocking up amid concerns over further disruptions. In some stores, supplies of salt and flour are already running low.

Almost the entire arsenal on one city

The Russian attack took place on 20 August and killed 15 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a children's hospital and a school were also damaged in the capital.

Russia used almost its entire arsenal, launching ballistic and Zircon hypersonic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region. Kyiv’s air defenses intercepted nearly all of the cruise missiles. However, ballistic missiles remain a major challenge as the US has not supplied Ukraine with enough Patriot interceptors.

Russia's overnight barrage burned down the Ukrainian warehouse of a German household brand. The strike on the night of 5 August destroyed the central warehouse of Liqui Moly Ukraine, which supplies motor oils, lubricants, and automotive chemicals, the company reported on Facebook.

The strike hit a foreign company's civilian supply hub, part of a widening campaign against Ukraine's warehouses.

"This night, as a result of an enemy strike, our central product warehouse in Ukraine was completely destroyed by fire," Liqui Moly said, adding that all employees were safe and no one was hurt.

Founded in 1957, Liqui Moly develops and produces its motor oils and additives in Germany, where it has been named the best brand in the lubricants category for years, and sells its products in about 150 countries. Its Ukraine warehouse is the local distribution center for a global consumer brand, the kind of ordinary commercial infrastructure now being hit.

The company plans to keep operating

Liqui Moly said the loss will not stop its business. Despite significant material damage, the distributor does not plan to halt operations and is already working to restore supplies, rebuild its logistics processes, and launch new delivery routes.

That response mirrors what Russia's warehouse campaign is forcing on businesses across Ukraine: decentralizing storage and rerouting deliveries to survive.

The strike fits a documented campaign

Hitting a motor oil warehouse continues Russia's pattern of striking civilian storage and logistics. Presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov has said Russia has intensified attacks on warehouses and production sites, including food, retail, and construction materials, and that this trend will hold.

Russia finds such targets cheaply, Beskrestnov has said, through local informants paid to watch trucks and stock rather than through satellites. A distribution warehouse for a consumer brand is exactly the sort of soft, easily-located civilian target that a campaign hits, damaging the supply of ordinary goods while endangering the workers inside.