Second Russian Yandex data center damaged by drone attack in two days, company says

A drone strike on October 9 damaged a Yandex data center in Russia's Kaluga Oblast, disabling several modules and potentially disrupting the company's services. Yandex disclosed that some services might face interruptions, though the full scale of the damage remains under assessment. The facility sustained no casualties. This marks the second attack on a Yandex data center in Russia within two days.

On October 8, another drone attack caused a fire at a Yandex data center in Sasovo, Ryazan Oblast, leading to a suspension of operations. The Sasovo center, equipped with tens of thousands of servers and two supercomputers, was crucial for Yandex's AI model development. The company is currently evaluating whether the damaged equipment can be restored.

The Kaluga attack aligns with reports of widespread internet outages in Russia, impacting banking services, transport websites, and online platforms. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed Ukraine's intention to retaliate against Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centers, stating that they possess the capability to do so.

Russian forces had previously targeted several Ukrainian internet providers and data centers in Kyiv, disrupting internet access for around 100,000 households in late September, according to Ukrainian officials.