Ukraine Hits Third Russian Yandex Data Hub, Disrupting Services

Ukraine struck another major hub of the Russian tech giant Yandex as its forces ramp up attacks on data centers, mirroring recent strikes by Moscow on similar facilities in Kyiv and elsewhere.

The hit caused the center in the Vladimir region, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) northeast of Moscow, to cease operations and disrupted various services, the company said in a statement on Telegram. Yandex is Russia’s largest technology company, offering services including a search engine, ride hailing, e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

It was Ukraine’s third hit to a major Russian technology hub in the past four days and came in addition to ongoing strikes on oil refineries and other infrastructure, including warehouses operated by e-commerce companies — many of them deep within Russia.

Read more: Ukraine Targets Yandex Data Hubs in Tit-for-Tat Russia Strikes

Kremlin forces in turn have targeted warehouses of some of Ukraine’s major logistics companies, including the private delivery service Nova Poshta and Rozetka, the country’s largest online retailer. On Sept. 27, the Russian defense ministry claimed strikes on data centers in Ukraine operated by Vodafone, Omega Telecom and Kyivstar.

Yandex’s Sasovo data center in the Ryazan region was out of action after sustaining “serious” damaged in an attack during the night of Oct. 7-8. On Friday, a center in Kaluga, about 150 km southwest of Moscow, was also damaged in a drone strike.

Read more: Russia Hits Ukraine Data Centers in Barrage That Killed Six

The center in Vladimir is home to Yandex’s third supercomputer, used to train neural networks. The other two are in the Sasovo facility, which has operated since 2014.

Disruptions to Yandex services have been also reported in Kazakhstan, according to Interfax.

Yandex was founded by billionaire Arkady Volozh. He exited Russian operations in 2024 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.

Russia’s defense ministry reported its forces downed 479 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine said Russia attacked it with 116 drones, out of which 94 were shot down. Moscow also reported today that it hit a data center in Odesa on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.

Read more: Ukraine Strikes Largest Russian Refinery Far From Border