Russian technology firm Yandex has announced that it is facing significant difficulties maintaining digital operations after Ukrainian drones struck two of its five primary data centres over a two-day period. Widely known as Russia's Google, the enterprise operates the nation's dominant search engine alongside popular food-ordering and ride-hailing applications utilized by tens of millions of citizens.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the operations were conducted in retaliation for persistent Russian assaults targeting Ukrainian data centres. Both nations have escalated campaigns against critical infrastructure as the ongoing conflict persists. Kyiv maintains that these strategic strikes target revenue generators supporting Moscow's military efforts and aim to compel Russia into reallocating resources toward infrastructure recovery.
Yandex reported that its facility located in Sasovo, within the Ryazan region, sustained heavy damage from an overnight drone strike, resulting in the complete suspension of its operations. A second facility situated in Kaluga, a region south-west of Moscow, was subsequently targeted in a morning attack that disabled a portion of the site's supporting infrastructure.
The technology corporation emphasized that its data centres are essential for standard platform functionality and noted that forecasting a timeline for restoration remains extremely difficult. Engineering teams are reportedly labouring continuously to sustain operations, though management acknowledged the complexity of the undertaking. While Yandex confirmed that no internal staff members suffered injuries during the incidents, the regional governor in Kaluga reported that nine individuals were hurt in a drone strike affecting local infrastructure.
The full extent of the operational fallout remains difficult to quantify, though the firm informed state media that specific artificial intelligence chatbot features experienced temporary outages alongside potential issues impacting smart home devices. Previously, Yandex highlighted its Kaluga location as one of the largest in Russia, spanning 130,000 square metres and consuming power equivalent to 220,000 UK households annually. The Sasovo site similarly houses two of the three supercomputers dedicated to building the company's proprietary AI model, though the condition of those systems following the blast is currently unverified.
Ukraine's defence ministry formally acknowledged responsibility for targeting the data centres, asserting the actions would force Moscow to channel resources into repairing the compromised capacity. President Zelensky characterized the offensive as a mirror-like response to comparable Russian operations against Ukrainian digital infrastructure. Previous Russian strikes had previously damaged local data facilities and caused widespread internet outages for approximately 100,000 households in the Kyiv region, prompting some domestic companies to relocate data servers abroad.
Moscow has defended its own infrastructure campaigns by claiming the targeted facilities were exploited by Ukrainian military intelligence. Conversely, Kyiv accuses Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilian assets, pointing to an intensification of energy and infrastructure strikes as winter approaches, echoing patterns observed throughout the full-scale invasion that began in 2022.