Russian tech giant Yandex has found itself caught up in the fallout from the Kremlin’s war as Ukraine ramps up attacks on major data centers, mirroring strikes by Moscow.
Russian forces have recently targeted a number of major data centers in Kyiv, stepping up a campaign to increase pressure on the population and disrupt communications ahead of what is likely to be a hard winter after strikes on energy facilities. Ukraine’s now responded, hitting two Yandex hubs in the last two days, while maintaining efforts to attack oil refineries and other infrastructure deep inside Russia.
Yandex said a center in Kaluga, which is roughly 150 kilometers (95 miles) southwest of Moscow, had been damaged Friday morning in a drone strike, putting part of its infrastructure out of service. The Sasovo data center in the Ryazan region was out of action after it had been “seriously” damaged in an attack during the night of Oct. 7-8, it said on Telegram.
Describing data centers as its “iron heart,” Yandex said it was continuing to assess the state of its infrastructure, though it was difficult to give time-frames for repairs.
“We continue to respond to Russia for its strikes on Ukraine, and we do so with high precision,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X Friday. “Another data center was hit as well - our symmetrical response.”
The strikes echo Ukrainian attacks in the summer on Russian warehouse networks operated by online marketplaces including Wildberries and Ozon after Russia targeted warehouses of some of Ukraine’s major logistics companies, including private delivery service Nova Poshta and Rozetka, the country’s largest online retailer.
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Attacks by both sides since July have practically halted shipping in parts of the Black Sea , affecting exports of grain and other commodities.
Moscow has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy and other critical infrastructure ahead of winter, striking power generation and transmission facilities as well as railways, bridges, ports and transport hubs, causing fresh electricity and mobile network outages across Kyiv and several other regions. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds wounded across Ukraine this week alone.
Yandex is Russia’s largest technology company, offering services including a search engine, ride hailing, e-commerce, cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
The Sasovo data center has operated since 2014 and also houses two of Yandex’s three supercomputers, which are used to train neural networks. The center in Kaluga is one of Yandex’s largest and supports the company’s internal infrastructure, as well as Yandex Cloud.
The company’s main consumers on Thursday were only moderately affected, according to local media. The outages were more serious for some Yandex Cloud customers whose resources were hosted in the affected zone. Cian, a Russian online real estate platform, reported disruptions to its website and app, while some property developers, shops and electronic document management providers also reported service problems.
Yandex was founded by billionaire Arkady Volozh. In 2024, he exited Russian operations in a Kremlin-controlled deal after condemning the war on Ukraine. The transaction allowed the Dutch-registered parent, now known as Nebius Group, to fully divest from Russia.