Ukrainian drones hit Yandex data centres in Kaluga and Sasovo
Ukraine's drone campaign has expanded to target Yandex's AI data centres in the Kaluga and Ryazan regions, partially disabling the facilities.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Ukrainian drone strikes partially disabled two Yandex data centres in Russia, one in the Kaluga region and another in Sasovo, Ryazan region, according to Yandex and media reports on 9 October 2026.
What happened
On Friday, 9 October, Ukrainian drones hit Yandex's data centre in the Kaluga region, south‑west of Moscow, causing a partial outage, Yandex said. The strike followed a Ukrainian attack the previous day on Yandex's larger hub in Sasovo, Ryazan region, which houses two of the three supercomputers used for the company's AI model. Yandex reported that the Sasovo facility was shut down by the drone strike and that it was still assessing the damage and the possibility of restoring the equipment.
What the reports add
- TechCentral noted that the Kaluga strike came a day after the Sasovo attack and that both incidents widen Ukraine's campaign against Russian technology infrastructure, which has already included attacks on energy facilities, refineries and ports.
- Al Jazeera highlighted that the attacks signal a shift toward targeting Russia's AI data infrastructure, adding that Moscow has previously struck data hubs inside Ukraine.
- Both outlets reported that Yandex, often described as Russia’s Google, is heavily involved in the country's AI development.
- TechCentral quoted Yandex describing its data centres as “the iron heart of Yandex” and stressing their critical role for everyday services.
- Al Jazeera added that the attacks forced some Yandex services to suspend operations, with roughly 100,000 households experiencing temporary internet outages.
What was said
"Data centres are the iron heart of Yandex. Their operation is critical for services that have become part of people’s everyday lives. Millions of users check traffic and plan routes, listen to music, watch movies, order groceries and get answers to their questions," Yandex said in a statement, reported by TechCentral.
"Our teams are working day and night to keep services running and help those affected by the incident. Right now this is our most important task, but unfortunately it is not an easy one," Yandex said, according to Al Jazeera.
"The risks involve not only the potential temporary unavailability of Yandex services and lost revenue in specific segments but also the company’s extensive base of B2B clients," Maryana Lazaricheva, head of equity research at T‑Investments, told TechCentral.
"We always respond in mirror‑like fashion. You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding. I can’t share all the details," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as cited by both TechCentral and Al Jazeera.
How it came about
Ukraine’s drone campaign has broadened this year from energy and logistics targets to digital infrastructure. Earlier Felo coverage linked the expanding attacks to the broader war effort, noting drone strikes on Russian refineries (Ukraine’s Drone Attacks Hit Russian Refineries) and the impact of such strikes on Russia’s economy. The recent data‑centre attacks follow a pattern of targeting critical Russian assets to undermine its war‑time capabilities, mirroring Russia’s own strikes on Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure over the past month.
Key facts
- Ukrainian drones struck Yandex's data centre in Kaluga, partially disabling it (techcentral.co.za)
- A Ukrainian drone attack on 8 Oct shut down Yandex's major data hub in Sasovo, Ryazan region (aljazeera.com)
- Yandex said it is assessing damage and cannot confirm equipment restoration (techcentral.co.za)
Sources
- [1] techcentral.co.za
- [2] aljazeera.com
