Russia was not ready for the data center war it started with Ukraine

The Russian Federation launched a drone strike campaign against Ukrainian data centers and telecommunications infrastructure in late September. This action temporarily disrupted internet and cell phone service for up to 100,000 households in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The attacks were part of a broader long-range strike campaign targeting Ukraine's power grid infrastructure, transportation hubs, and residential apartment building blocks.

Following the strikes, Ukrainian drone fighters successfully knocked out three of the largest data centers owned by the Russian tech giant Yandex. Pro-Kremlin bloggers have warned that Russia's centralized digital economy could collapse due to its lack of preparedness for the "data center war" it initiated. Independent researcher ChrisO_wiki has observed that Ukraine's decentralized digital services may prove more resilient than Russia's system if both countries continue engaging in such attacks.