Russian clothes shop workers forced to strip down to their pants, undercover footage shows

Undercover footage shows Russian workers in one of the country's retailers are forced to strip down to their underwear.

Shocking footage shared online appeared to show predominantly women, working for major online Russian retailer Wildberries, being subjected to strip searches to “avoid theft”.

The company was set up in 2004 by Tatyana Bakalchuk – a pro-Putin oligarch and the richest woman in Russia with an estimated wealth of $13.3 billion.

Employees at Wildberries in St Petersburg were seen being searched by other members of staff. The shocking practice was uncovered by a reporter from life.ru who went undercover, working at the Wildberries warehouse for three days.

According to the report, “every morning in the warehouse … begins with a humiliating procedure”.

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They revealed that employees are strip searched going both in and out of the facility. On the way in, they are searched for phones and watches, to stop them from bringing them to work. Meanwhile, on the way out, they are searched for stolen goods in a “fight against theft”.

The report explained: “Workers, under the supervision of video cameras, undress and go to the inspection point in their shorts and work boots - you can’t walk there in your own shoes.”

The undercover reporter explained that the only items allowed are “cigarettes, medicines and a push-button telephone”. However, since the work uniforms do not have pockets, “some simply put them in their shorts, and especially experienced employees tape them to themselves”.

Footage of the strip searches was shared online not long after workers staged a revolt against a new policy that would dock employees' pay if a customer received the wrong item in an order.

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