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Russian search engine Yandex struggles after Ukrainian strikes on data centres
BBC • • world
Key Points:
- Russian tech giant Yandex reported operational difficulties after two of its five data centres in Sasovo and Kaluga were hit by Ukrainian drone attacks in the past two days, leading to significant service disruptions.
- President Zelensky stated the attacks were retaliatory measures in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres, highlighting the ongoing infrastructure targeting in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- Yandex's Sasovo data centre, which houses critical AI supercomputers, was severely damaged with operations completely suspended, while the Kaluga facility also suffered partial infrastructure loss; the timeline for restoration remains uncertain.
- The attacks aim to disrupt Moscow's revenue streams and may force Russia to allocate resources to repair Yandex's damaged data centres, according to Ukraine's defense ministry.
- Despite the strikes, Yandex confirmed no employee injuries, though regional officials reported nine injuries in Kaluga; some AI chatbot functions and smart home device services were temporarily affected.
