Yandex Scrambles to Restore Services After Ukrainian Drone Strikes Cripple Two Data Centres

Russian technology giant Yandex has confirmed that it is facing significant difficulties maintaining its core services after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged two of its five data centres within a 48-hour period. The company, frequently described as "Russia's Google," operates the country's most widely used search engine alongside a suite of food delivery and ride-hailing applications relied upon by tens of millions of users daily. The strikes represent one of the most direct blows yet to Russia's domestic digital infrastructure since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

According to Yandex, its facility in Sasovo, located in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow, sustained serious damage during an overnight drone attack that stretched into Thursday. The company stated that operations at the site were "completely suspended" as a result. The following morning, a second facility in the Kaluga region, situated southwest of the Russian capital, was also targeted. Yandex reported that part of the Kaluga site's infrastructure had been "taken out of service," though the full extent of the damage there remains unclear.

The company issued a statement on Friday emphasising that its data centres are "critical" for the normal functioning of its various platforms. It acknowledged that it was "very difficult to predict" when the affected facilities would be restored to full capacity. Yandex added that its technical teams were working "day and night" to keep services operational but conceded that "unfortunately it is not a simple task." The admission underscores the scale of the challenge facing a company whose operations are deeply embedded in everyday Russian life.

The precise scope of the disruption to Yandex's services has not been fully disclosed. However, the company told the state news agency Tass that certain artificial intelligence chatbot functions had been temporarily unavailable. Additionally, users of Yandex's smart home devices were warned they might encounter technical problems. These admissions suggest that the damage extends beyond basic search and app functionality into the company's more advanced technological offerings, which have been a growing focus of its business strategy in recent years.

The Sasovo facility is particularly significant because it houses two of the three supercomputers that Yandex uses to develop its artificial intelligence models. It remains unknown whether those supercomputers survived the attack. The Kaluga data centre, meanwhile, had previously been described by Yandex as one of the largest in Russia, covering an area of 130,000 square metres and consuming as much electricity annually as 220,000 average households in the United Kingdom. The loss of even partial capacity at such a facility could have far-reaching consequences for the company's operations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the strikes were a direct response to weeks of Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres. He characterised Kyiv's actions as a "mirror-like fashion" response to similar Russian strikes. Ukraine's defence ministry also confirmed the attacks, stating that they could "force Russia to divert resources to repair the damaged capacity." This rationale aligns with Kyiv's broader strategy of targeting infrastructure that supports Moscow's war effort, aiming to impose economic and logistical costs on the Russian state.

The strikes on Yandex's facilities are part of an escalating pattern of attacks on infrastructure by both sides in recent months. Kyiv has stated that its strikes are intended to disrupt revenue streams that feed Moscow's war machine. By targeting Yandex, one of Russia's most prominent technology companies, Ukraine appears to be signalling that even the country's flagship civilian tech sector is not beyond the reach of its drone capabilities. The psychological and economic impact of such attacks could extend well beyond the immediate disruption to services.

The human cost of the strikes has also become apparent. The regional governor in Kaluga reported that nine people had been injured in a drone attack on the city's infrastructure. Yandex, however, stated that none of its own employees had been injured in the strikes on its data centres. The discrepancy highlights the difficulty of assessing the full impact of drone attacks in a conflict zone, where military and civilian infrastructure often overlap or are located in close proximity.

The broader context of these attacks includes a series of Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres in recent weeks. Last month, a Russian drone hit a business centre in Kyiv, killing four people and damaging a data centre. That attack resulted in internet outages for approximately 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region. In response, some Ukrainian firms have already begun relocating data from damaged servers to facilities abroad, illustrating how the war is reshaping the geography of Ukraine's digital infrastructure.

Moscow has sought to justify its own attacks on Ukrainian data centres by claiming they were used by Ukrainian military intelligence. Ukraine, for its part, accuses Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure. This exchange of accusations reflects the broader information war being waged alongside the physical conflict, with each side seeking to frame its actions as legitimate while casting the other's as unjustified. The targeting of data centres has become a contentious issue precisely because of the dual-use nature of such facilities.

Russia has escalated its strikes on energy infrastructure across Ukraine in the lead-up to winter, a pattern observed in previous years of the conflict. The approaching cold season typically sees intensified attacks on power generation and distribution networks, with the aim of demoralising the civilian population and disrupting essential services. The targeting of data centres adds a new dimension to this seasonal strategy, focusing on the digital infrastructure that underpins modern communications and commerce.

For Yandex, the strikes represent a serious operational and reputational challenge. The company has long been a symbol of Russian technological achievement, competing successfully with global giants such as Google in the domestic market. Its ability to maintain uninterrupted service is a key component of its value proposition to users and advertisers alike. Prolonged outages could erode user trust and potentially drive some consumers toward alternative platforms, though the extent of such shifts remains uncertain given Yandex's dominant market position.

The attacks also raise questions about the resilience of Russia's digital infrastructure more broadly. If a company of Yandex's scale and resources can be significantly disrupted by drone strikes, the implications for smaller operators could be even more severe. The concentration of data centre capacity in a limited number of locations creates vulnerabilities that are difficult and expensive to mitigate. Redundancy and geographic dispersion are common strategies for improving resilience, but the strikes suggest that even these measures may not be sufficient against determined adversaries.

As both sides continue to escalate attacks on infrastructure, the conflict is increasingly being fought not only on the battlefield but also in the digital and economic domains. Data centres, energy grids, and communication networks have become strategic targets, reflecting the growing importance of information and connectivity in modern warfare. For ordinary citizens on both sides, the consequences are felt in disrupted services, economic uncertainty, and the psychological toll of living in a society under sustained attack.

The coming days will be critical for Yandex as it works to restore full functionality to its platforms. The company's ability to recover quickly will depend on the extent of the damage and the availability of replacement equipment, which may be complicated by international sanctions on technology exports to Russia. How effectively Yandex navigates this crisis could shape perceptions of Russia's technological self-sufficiency and its capacity to withstand pressure on multiple fronts simultaneously. For now, the company's teams continue their round-the-clock efforts, with no clear timeline for a return to normal operations.