OMM Newsroom
Russian digital infrastructure has become a target in the war with Ukraine, with drone strikes this month damaging data centres run by technology company “Yandex” and bank “Sberbank”. The incidents disrupted online services, cloud systems and digital payments across several regions.
The attacks marked a shift towards digital infrastructure, following recent strikes on Russian energy and trade facilities that have disrupted production and supply chains.
On Oct. 8, a drone strike severely damaged a “Yandex” data centre in Sasovo, in Russia’s Ryazan region, forcing it to close. A strike the next day damaged the company’s facility in Kaluga, its largest data centre in Russia, taking several modules out of service.
A third “Yandex” data centre, in Vladimir region, stopped operating after a drone strike on Oct. 11. The damage to the three facilities disrupted services used by “Yandex” and its corporate customers. No staff were reportedly injured, but the company has not given a firm timeline for restoring the sites.
The attacks followed an escalation in Russian military strikes on Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure.
On Wednesday, “Sberbank” First Deputy Chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said a drone had attacked the bank’s data centre in Balakovo, in Russia’s Saratov region. He said no employees were injured and the bank’s systems and services continued to operate normally.
Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said the Balakovo strike also damaged residential buildings and killed one person.
The strikes on “Yandex” affected consumer services including “Yandex Go”, “Yandex Pay”, “Yandex Mail” and “Yandex Disk”, as well as smart-home systems using the company’s “Alisa” artificial intelligence assistant.
Businesses that depend on “Yandex” cloud infrastructure were also affected, including retailers, internet providers and other online platforms. The disruptions highlighted the risks of relying on a small number of major technology providers.
Real estate platform “Cian” said on Oct. 12 that its website and mobile app had resumed operating with limited functionality after an outage. E-commerce retailer “M.Video” reported problems with its website and app on Oct. 11; both were restored the following day, although some functions remained slower than usual. Internet provider “Dom.ru” also reported disruptions on Oct. 11.
Dmitry Pirogov, head of “Yandex”’s fintech division, said money transfers had partially resumed. On Tuesday, “Yandex” said it would waive eligible fees for “Yandex Cloud” services from Oct. 8 to Oct. 31 and provide fee relief during October for subscribers to personal “Yandex 360” plans.
Most smart-home systems and “Alisa” features have been restored, “Yandex” said, but status updates for some devices may be delayed and cloud-based automation has not been fully restored.
“Yandex Advertising” said on Tuesday that several key services were operating again, while access to “Yandex Direct” and “Yandex Business” accounts remained temporarily restricted. Existing advertising campaigns continued, but advertisers could not manage them, change settings or view reports through their accounts.
The targeted data centres housed infrastructure used in Russia’s artificial intelligence development, including two of “Yandex”’s three supercomputers used to train its “YandexGPT” model. The facilities also supported cloud computing for business customers. The extent of damage to the AI hardware remains unclear.
“Yandex” has teamed up with alternative cloud providers “Selectel”, “VK Cloud” and “K2 Cloud” to speed up the transfer of affected corporate customers’ data and services to other infrastructure.
The disruptions also affected “Yandex” applications in neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where users reported problems with taxi bookings, food delivery and other services.
Russian Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Minister Maksut Shadayev told a State Duma committee that his ministry was working with the Defence Ministry on measures to protect data centres from drone attacks.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the government was discussing the effects of disruptions to “Yandex” services. He said it was too early to assess possible financial losses for users or determine whether compensation would be offered.
Russian data-centre operators are increasing security measures, with industry sources reporting that some companies have begun buying additional protective equipment and strengthening defences around critical facilities.
Ukraine has frequently targeted Russian oil refineries, fuel depots and logistics infrastructure. Since mid-July, Ukrainian drone strikes have also hit warehouses operated by e-commerce companies “Wildberries” and “Ozon”, disrupting distribution networks across multiple regions. The companies adjusted logistics operations, redistributed inventory and rerouted shipments as they worked to restore normal service.
