Russia called its strikes on Ukrainian data centers a ‘forced digital detox.’ Zelensky says Kyiv has answered by hitting a data center belonging to Russian tech giant Yandex.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine is retaliating against Russian attacks, including strikes on data centers. He mentioned a recent Ukrainian attack on a Yandex data center in Russia's Ryazan region, as reported by RBC-Ukraine. Zelensky acknowledged that both sides have been targeting data centers, and he could not provide extensive details on the Ukrainian response.

Referring to previous strikes in Pryluky and Kramatorsk, Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine would respond to such attacks but would never target children. On October 8, a Ukrainian drone strike on a Yandex data center in Sasovo, Russia's Ryazan region, resulted in a fire and the complete shutdown of the facility. By the evening of the same day, Yandex was uncertain about the extent of the damage to its infrastructure, with restoration efforts still underway.

Following the strike, users reported disruptions in services provided by various companies, including Avito, IVI, MegaFon, Russian Railways, T-Bank, and real estate developers. Russia has been conducting regular strikes on Ukrainian data centers over the past weeks, damaging or destroying facilities belonging to at least eight companies since late September. The Russian Defense Ministry termed these strikes as a "forced digital detox."