Yandex

Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months as the war between them continues into its fifth year following Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Kyiv said it is targeting places that help the revenue streams for Moscow’s war machine, and that the latest attacks could force Russia to divert its resources to repair the damage at Yandex.

Writing on Telegram, the company confirmed that its data centre in Vladimir was damaged and that operations had been “completely suspended,” although they were working to restore connectivity.

The other strikes against Yandex facilities were on Thursday in Sasovo and Friday in in Kaluga, south-west of Moscow, causing operations to be suspended.

The tech company – which also runs a food-ordering and taxi app used by tens of millions of people – said its data centres were critical for the normal operation of its services, and that it was “very difficult to predict” when they would be back online.

Meanwhile, Russian strikes on Ukraine have also continued through the weekend.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said six people were injured in Russian attacks overnight on four districts in its south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region.

On Saturday, at least 20 people including four children were killed in Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia, local officials confirmed.

Third strike on Yandex facilities in a week comes as Russia and Ukraine escalate attacks on tech infrastructure.

A Russian data centre run by technology and AI company ⁠Yandex has been shut down after it was hit in a drone attack.

No injuries were reported in the attack on the facility in the city of Vladimir, east of the capital, Moscow, the company said on Sunday.

Emergency services were at the site and several of Yandex’s services were unavailable ‌to users, the company said, as it evaluated ways to restore its systems.

“Operations at the data centre have been completely suspended,” Yandex said in a service alert on Telegram, advising users to activate disaster-recovery plans as the platform operated in emergency mode.

“The remaining resource configuration is considered unstable,” it added, warning that technical support communications could also be disrupted as teams assessed the damage.

It is the third attack on the company’s data centres in the last week, as Russia and Ukraine continue to escalate attacks on each other’s technology infrastructure.

On Friday, Yandex, which ⁠is heavily involved ⁠in Russia’s AI development and is sometimes referred to as “Russia’s Google”, said its data centre in the Kaluga ⁠region southwest of Moscow was struck by ⁠Ukrainian drones and partly ⁠put out of action.

A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down Yandex’s data hub ‌in Sasovo, southeast of Moscow, where two of the three supercomputers used ‌to ‌develop the company’s AI model are housed.

“We always respond in mirror-like fashion,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, following the Sasovo strike. “You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding. I can’t share all the details.”

Russia has struck several Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure facilities over the past month, including targets in central Kyiv, in an apparent effort to disrupt the country’s connectivity and digital commerce.