Ukrainian Drone Strikes Knock Out Two Major Data Centers Belonging to Russian Tech Giant Yandex

Ukrainian drone strikes have knocked out two major data centers operated by the Russian tech giant Yandex. The attacks mark a widening trend of digital infrastructure becoming targets in modern conflicts. The strikes hit Yandex facilities in the Sasovo and Kaluga regions on October 8 and October 9. Ukrainian company Firepoint stated its FP-1 attack drones were used on the Kaluga site, which is Yandex's largest data center.

The Sasovo facility housed two of the three supercomputers the company uses to train its YandexGPT artificial intelligence model. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the action as a symmetrical response to Russian drone campaigns that have disrupted internet and mobile services in Ukraine. The damage caused widespread service outages across Russia.

Users reported access problems for digital banking, video streaming, media sites, and state-owned railway services. Yandex acknowledged service disruptions but confirmed no employees were injured. Data centers have increasingly become wartime targets. Earlier in the year, Iranian drones knocked out Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates following attacks on Iran.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to face heavy Russian missile and drone strikes targeting its power grid and urban infrastructure.