Yandex, a major Russian technology company, reported difficulties in maintaining its services after two of its five data centres were targeted by Ukrainian drone strikes in recent days. The company, which operates Russia's leading search engine and various applications, stated that its data centre in Sasovo, located in the Ryazan region, sustained significant damage from a drone attack on Thursday, resulting in a complete suspension of operations. Another data centre in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, was also attacked on Friday, with part of its infrastructure rendered inoperable.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that these attacks were a response to ongoing Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres. Both nations have intensified assaults on infrastructure as the conflict continues, with Ukraine asserting that its operations target revenue sources for Russia's military efforts. Yandex emphasized the critical nature of its data centres for service functionality and noted the challenges in predicting when operations would resume. The company reported that its teams were working continuously to restore services, although it acknowledged the complexity of the task.
No injuries among Yandex employees were reported, but the regional governor of Kaluga mentioned that nine individuals were injured in the drone strike on local infrastructure. The extent of service disruption remains uncertain, but Yandex informed the state news agency Tass that some AI chatbot features were temporarily unavailable, and smart home devices might face issues.
Yandex's Kaluga data centre is one of the largest in Russia, covering 130,000 square meters and consuming electricity equivalent to that used by 220,000 UK households annually. The Sasovo facility houses two of the company's three supercomputers used for AI model development, though it is unclear if these supercomputers were affected by the attack.
Ukraine's defense ministry confirmed the strikes on Yandex's data centres, suggesting that they could compel Russia to allocate resources for repairs. Zelensky characterized Ukraine's response as a 'mirror-like' reaction to Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Last month, a Russian drone strike on a business centre in Kyiv resulted in four fatalities and damage to a data centre, leading to internet outages for approximately 100,000 households in the area.
Moscow has defended its actions, claiming that the targeted data centres were utilized by Ukrainian military intelligence, while Ukraine accuses Russia of intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure. As winter approaches, Russia has increased strikes on energy facilities, mirroring tactics used in previous years since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.