Russian Search Engine Yandex Struggles After Ukrainian Strikes on Data Centres

Sat Oct 10 2026 03:00:06 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

Russian tech giant Yandex is scrambling to keep services online after Ukrainian drones hit two key data centres, highlighting the growing cyber‑infrastructure warfare in the Ukraine conflict.

Yandex, the popular Russian search engine, has reported severe disruptions after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged two of its five data centres in the past two days. The strikes, aimed at crippling Russia’s digital infrastructure, caused complete shutdowns at the Sasovo and Kaluga hubs, disrupting search, food‑ordering, taxi, and AI services. Kremlin officials claim the damage forces Russia to divert resources into repairs, while Ukraine cites retaliation for Russian attacks on Ukrainian data facilities. The hit on Yandex’s supercomputers may also hamper the development of its AI models. Both sides intensify cyber‑infrastructure strikes as the war drags on.

Russian tech giant Yandex has said it was struggling to maintain services after two of its five data centres were struck by Ukrainian drones in the past two days.

Often dubbed 'Russia’s Google', the company runs the country’s most popular search engine, as well as food‑ordering and taxi apps used by tens of millions.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were a response to weeks of Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres.

Both sides have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months as the war drags on. Kyiv says its strikes aim at revenue streams for Moscow’s war machine, and that the latest attacks could force Russia to divert resources to Yandex.

Yandex said its data centre in Sasovo, in the Ryazan region, had been 'seriously damaged as a result of a drone attack' overnight into Thursday, with its operations completely suspended.

Another data centre in Kaluga, a region south‑west of Moscow, was also attacked on Friday morning, with part of that site’s infrastructure taken out of service.

Yandex said on Friday that its data centres were critical for normal operation and that it was 'very difficult to predict' when they would be back online.

Teams were working 'day and night' to keep services running, but it is not a simple task.

The tech giant said none of its employees had been injured in the strikes, though the regional governor in Kaluga reported nine people injured in a drone attack on the city’s infrastructure.

The exact scope of disruption to Yandex’s services is unclear – some AI chat‑bot functions were temporarily unavailable, and its smart‑home devices may also experience problems.

Yandex previously said its Kaluga data centre was one of Russia’s largest – covering 130,000 sqm and consuming as much electricity annually as 220,000 UK households.

Its Sasovo centre houses two of three supercomputers used to develop Yandex’s AI model. It is unclear whether the supercomputers survived the attack.

Ukraine’s defence ministry confirmed the data centre attacks, saying they could force Russia to divert resources to repair the damaged capacity.

Zelensky said Kyiv was responding to similar Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres in a 'mirror‑like' fashion.

Last month a Russian drone hit a business centre in Kyiv, killing four people and damaging a data centre, causing internet outages for about 100,000 households.

Some Ukrainian firms are already moving data from damaged servers to facilities abroad.

Moscow has justified the attacks by saying the data centres were used by Ukrainian military intelligence, but Ukraine accuses Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy infrastructure ahead of the winter, as it has done in previous years of the full‑scale invasion that began in 2022.