Russia's Yandex Data Center in Vladimir Shut Down After Drone Attack

A data center operated by Yandex, a prominent Russian technology and AI company, has been shut down after being hit by a drone attack in the city of Vladimir. The company reported no injuries from the incident. This marks the third attack on Yandex facilities within a week, highlighting an escalation in strikes on technological infrastructure between Russia and Ukraine.

Highlights

• Yandex's data center in Vladimir was closed following a drone attack.
• No injuries were reported in the attack.
• This is the third strike on Yandex facilities in a week, amidst escalating attacks on tech infrastructure by Russia and Ukraine.
• The company stated that some services were unavailable and it is evaluating ways to restore its systems.

Details

Yandex announced on Sunday that emergency services were on site after the attack on its facility in Vladimir, east of Moscow. In a service alert via Telegram, the company stated that operations at the data center were completely suspended and the platform was operating in emergency mode. Users were advised to activate disaster-recovery plans.

Last Friday, Yandex's data center in the Kaluga region was also struck by Ukrainian drones and partially put out of action. A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down Yandex's data hub in Sasovo, southeast of Moscow, which houses two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company's AI model. Following the Sasovo strike, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, "We always respond in mirror-like fashion... You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centers. We are responding."

Why it matters

These attacks indicate a focus on technology infrastructure in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Both sides are targeting data centers and telecommunications facilities in an apparent effort to disrupt connectivity and digital commerce. Such strikes on critical technology companies like Yandex have the potential to disrupt civilian services and cause widespread digital outages.