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Ukrainian drone strikes on Yandex data centers have caused severe internet outages across Russia, affecting banking, retail, and daily services. The damage is extensive because Yandex hosts a large share of Russian data, and two of its six major centers are offline. Experts warn that full recovery could take months, with further strikes risking deeper crisis.
Ukrainian drone strikes targeting Russian tech giant Yandex have triggered a significant internet crisis in Russia, disrupting services for millions of users. The attacks, which occurred on October 8, 9, and 11, knocked out major data centers, causing widespread outages for banks, retailers, and everyday digital services, as Yandex Pay partially resumed operations in the aftermath. According to Meduza, the extensive damage stems from the high concentration of Russian data on Yandex’s infrastructure, which was not designed to withstand such attacks, potentially requiring months for full recovery.
The strikes specifically targeted Yandex facilities in the Vladimir region, Sasovo (Ryazan region), and Kaluga, where drone attacks also injured nine people in the region. These attacks temporarily disabled Yandex’s own services, including Yandex Go, Yandex Eats, and Yandex Pay. The impact extended far beyond Yandex, as many other companies, such as Cian, Sports.ru, and Magnit, rely on Yandex’s cloud infrastructure for data storage. Consequently, users faced difficulties accessing email, voice assistants, and online marketplaces.
Yandex’s cloud data storage platform entered emergency mode after the third strike, signaling a critical shortage of spare capacity. Eldar Murtazin, lead analyst at Mobile Research Group, described this status as a “very bad sign,” indicating that any further attacks could deepen the crisis. The company has acknowledged the severity of the situation by updating its user agreement to classify drone and missile attacks as force majeure events, disclaiming liability for resulting disruptions.
To mitigate the impact, Yandex has advised customers to arrange backup capacity with alternative providers such as Selectel, K2Cloud, and VK Cloud. This requires businesses to back up their data and rent servers from competitors. However, legal constraints complicate this process, as Russian law mandates that certain data, including personal data and telecom traffic, must be stored exclusively within Russia.
Impact on Russian Digital Infrastructure
The disruption highlights the fragility of Russia’s centralized digital infrastructure. By concentrating a vast amount of national data on a single provider like Yandex, the country created a single point of failure. The inability of Yandex’s infrastructure to withstand drone attacks exposes a critical vulnerability in Russia’s tech sector. This event demonstrates how targeted physical attacks on digital infrastructure can have immediate and widespread consequences for civilian life and economic activity, affecting everything from financial transactions to daily logistics.
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Yandex’s Data Center Layout
Yandex operates six major data centers within Russia. Prior to the attacks, the company conducted drills where it would shut down one center and shift loads to the others. However, the loss of two centers—Sasovo and the facility near Vladimir—has overwhelmed this redundancy system. Three centers remain unhit: another in the Vladimir region, and one each in Ivanteyevka and Mytishchi, near Moscow. The concentration of data storage in Yandex’s hands means that when its infrastructure fails, a significant portion of the Russian internet goes down with it.
“Yandex classified attacks ‘using drones, missiles, and other weapons’ as force majeure events and disclaimed liability for their consequences.”
— Meduza
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Timeline for Full Recovery
It is not yet clear how long it will take to fully restore services to pre-attack levels. Meduza reports that a full recovery will likely take months, citing the extensive damage and the loss of two major data centers. The extent of permanent data loss is also uncertain, though Yandex has advised customers to seek backup solutions immediately. Further attacks on the remaining three data centers remain a potential risk that could exacerbate the crisis.
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Customer Migration to Alternatives
In the short term, affected businesses are expected to migrate data to alternative Russian cloud providers like Selectel, K2Cloud, and VK Cloud. This shift may lead to a more decentralized cloud market in Russia, reducing reliance on Yandex. However, this process will be complex and time-consuming due to regulatory requirements and the technical difficulty of moving large datasets. Yandex will likely focus on repairing the damaged facilities while managing the emergency mode of its remaining infrastructure.
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Key Questions
Which services were most affected by the outages?
Major Yandex services like Yandex Go, Yandex Eats, and Yandex Pay were down, along with third-party apps and sites hosted on Yandex infrastructure, including banks, retailers, and news platforms.
Why did the strikes cause such widespread disruption?
A large portion of Russia’s internet data is stored on Yandex’s infrastructure. Since the company’s data centers were not designed to withstand drone attacks, the damage to multiple facilities overwhelmed its redundancy systems.
Can Russian companies move their data abroad to avoid attacks?
No, Russian laws such as the Yarovaya laws and the Federal Law on Personal Data require that certain types of data, including personal data and telecom traffic, be stored exclusively within Russia.
What is Yandex’s current status?
Yandex Cloud has entered emergency mode due to a lack of spare capacity. The company has advised customers to seek backup capacity from other providers and has updated its terms to classify drone attacks as force majeure.
Source: rss
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