In brief
Ukrainian drones have damaged Yandex's data centre in Vladimir, forcing a halt to its operations and disrupting services such as the AI chatbot. This is the third strike on Yandex sites this week, after attacks on Sasovo and Kaluga, amid escalating targetting of Russian tech assets. Yandex has confirmed damage with no casualties, but service outages are still expected as repairs begin. The attacks reflect Kyiv's strategy to cripple revenue streams for Russia's war effort and are part of broader intensified infrastructure strikes in the conflict.
Ukrainian drones have damaged Yandex’s data centre in Vladimir, east of Moscow, forcing the Russian‑based tech giant to suspend operations at the site and bringing some of its services online. No injuries were reported.
This marks the third strike on Yandex facilities this week: earlier attacks hit a centre in Sasovo on Thursday and another in Kaluga on Friday, disrupting services such as the AI chatbot and smart‑home devices.
Yandex said it was struggling to keep services running after the outages and stressed that its data centres are critical to normal operations. The company is working to restore connectivity but warned that downtime could be prolonged.
The attacks come amid intensified drone and missile strikes on both sides in the conflict’s fifth year, with Ukraine targeting infrastructure that fuels Russia’s war machine. Several Ukrainian drone attacks have claimed casualties and prompted Russian counter‑strikes against Ukrainian infrastructures.
In related developments, US President Donald Trump publicly urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian oil refineries, a stance that has drawn criticism from Europe and sparked diplomatic friction with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
