A critical data centre operated by the Russian technology giant Yandex has been forced to shut down following a drone strike in the city of Vladimir, located east of Moscow. The company confirmed on Sunday that there were no injuries resulting from the incident. Emergency crews have been deployed to the site, while multiple Yandex digital services remain unavailable as the company works to evaluate the damage and restore system functionality.
In a service update issued via Telegram, the company stated that “operations at the data centre have been completely suspended.” Management has advised users to shift to disaster-recovery protocols while the platform remains in emergency mode. The firm further warned that the “remaining resource configuration is considered unstable” and cautioned that technical support communications might face significant disruptions during the ongoing assessment period.
This incident represents the third strike against Yandex infrastructure within a single week, reflecting an intensifying pattern of attacks targeting technology hubs on both sides of the conflict. On Friday, the company—often described as Russia’s Google due to its central role in AI development—reported that its data centre in the Kaluga region was partially disabled by Ukrainian drones. A day prior, a strike in Sasovo, southeast of Moscow, disabled a hub housing two of the three supercomputers essential for the firm’s AI model development.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the escalation on Thursday, noting that the strikes were a retaliatory measure. “We always respond in mirror-like fashion,” Zelenskyy said. “They have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding.” The conflict has seen reciprocal efforts to cripple digital infrastructure, with Russian forces striking telecommunications and data facilities across Ukraine, including several key installations in central Kyiv, over the past month.
