Ukraine Drones Hit Second Yandex Data Center in Two Days

Live updates

1. 50m ago

   Ukraine Drone Strikes Disable Three Yandex Data Centers

   Ukrainian drone attacks have disabled three Yandex data centers within four days, including the company's largest Russian site. Yandex confirmed that several modules at its Kaluga region facility were completely disabled on Friday, marking the second hit in two days. A third strike subsequently forced the closure of the Vladimir data center. These attacks have rendered two of three supercomputers inoperative, causing widespread disruptions to Russian digital services, shopping, and taxi operations. Some reports indicate bot traffic from the Yandex network has fallen to approximately 0.4% of its two-week peak.

   Why it matters

   Yandex is Russia's largest technology provider and a primary hub for the country's AI infrastructure. Ukraine describes these strikes as a strategy to dismantle Russian artificial intelligence and increase the economic costs of the war. The digital disruption affects both domestic Russian services and international operations.

   What is confirmed

   • Yandex confirmed a drone attack disabled several modules at its data center in the Kaluga region.
   • Ukraine struck three Yandex data centers within a four-day period.
   • The attack on the Kaluga facility was the second hit in two days.
   • The drone strikes caused disruptions to Yandex services across Russia and other countries.
   • A drone attack forced the closure of the Yandex data center in Vladimir.

   Still unconfirmed

   • Repairs to the three data centers will take months to complete.

   What to watch next

   • Evidence of long-term degradation of Russian AI capabilities
   • Official Ukrainian confirmation of the specific targets and objectives
   • Yandex's timeline for restoring disabled modules and supercomputers
   Sources used for this update (30)

   1. The Register — Ukrainian drone attack takes out Russian datacenter
   2. Reuters — Russia's Yandex says second data centre hit by drone attack
   3. UNITED24 Media — Yandex Takes a Second Data Center Hit in 48 Hours—Now Its Biggest Russian Site Is Damaged
   4. Financial Times — Ukraine strikes Russian tech giant’s data centres
   5. The Moscow Times — Ukraine Drones Hit Second Yandex Data Center in Two Days
   6. Al Jazeera — Ukraine takes aim at Russia’s AI data infrastructure
   7. BBC — Russian search engine Yandex struggles after Ukrainian strikes on data centres
   8. kyivindependent.com — Ukraine war latest: Drones strike another Yandex data center in Russia
   9. Ars Technica — Ukraine’s drones knock out AI data center belonging to "Russia’s Google"
   10. www.themoscowtimes.com — Ukraine Drones Hit Second Yandex Data Center in Two Days
   11. www.tomshardware.com — Ukrainian drones strike largest data center in Russia, multiple parts of 1.4 million square foot campus k....
   12. www.chicagotribune.com — Pres. Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine reach ‘energy ceasefire’ but gives no details
   confidence 90%