Russian search engine Yandex struggles after Ukrainian strikes on data centres

What happened to Yandex’s data centres in Sasovo and Kaluga?

Yandex reported attacks on two data centres within two days. The strikes mattered because these facilities support the company’s search engine, taxi and food-ordering apps, AI systems, and other services used by millions. Yandex warned that restoring normal operations would be difficult to predict.

The Sasovo centre in Russia’s Ryazan region was seriously damaged overnight into Thursday. Yandex said its operations were completely suspended. The Kaluga centre, south-west of Moscow, was attacked on Friday morning, and part of its infrastructure was taken out of service.

No Yandex employees were injured. However, the Kaluga governor said nine people were injured in an attack on the city’s infrastructure. Yandex said teams were working day and night to keep services running, but some AI chatbot functions were temporarily unavailable and smart home devices might also experience problems.

What is a data centre, and why is it critical to services such as search, taxis, food delivery and AI chatbots?

A data centre is a specialised facility where powerful computers, data storage and network connections operate together. It receives requests from users, processes them, stores information, and sends results back through the internet. This lets people use services without keeping the main systems on their own devices.

For Yandex, data centres support the country’s most popular search engine, along with food-ordering and taxi apps used by tens of millions. They also support AI model development and chatbot functions. The Kaluga centre is one of Russia’s largest, while Sasovo houses two of Yandex’s three AI supercomputers.

That concentration makes data centres critical. If equipment or connections fail, a service may slow down, lose functions, or stop working. Yandex said some AI chatbot functions were temporarily unavailable after the attacks. Its smart home devices might also experience problems, showing how widely one facility can affect users.

How large are Yandex’s affected facilities, and how many of its five data centres were struck?

Yandex operates five data centres, and Ukrainian drone attacks struck two of them within two days. That means a substantial share of the company’s core infrastructure was affected, although the article does not give the total size of both damaged sites.

The Kaluga data centre is one of Russia’s largest. Yandex says it covers 130,000 square metres, or 1,399,000 square feet. It consumes as much electricity annually as 220,000 UK households. The Sasovo centre’s physical size is not stated, but it contains two of Yandex’s three supercomputers used to develop its AI model.

The scale matters because these are not small local server rooms. They are major facilities supporting critical services and advanced computing. Yandex said the centres were essential for normal service operation, and it was very difficult to predict when they would return online.

What services and devices could be disrupted because of the damage?

The attacks did not produce a fully measured list of outages. Yandex said the exact scope of disruption was unclear, but confirmed that some AI chatbot functions were temporarily unavailable. It also warned that smart home devices might experience problems.

The possible impact extends beyond those named functions. Yandex’s data centres are critical to the normal operation of its services, which include Russia’s most popular search engine and food-ordering and taxi apps used by tens of millions. Damage to core infrastructure can make it harder to process user requests and maintain connected features.

Yandex said teams were working day and night to keep services running. However, the company said restoring the centres would not be simple and that it was very difficult to predict when they would be back online. The article does not confirm widespread failures in search, taxis, or food delivery.

Why would attacking data centres affect a country’s military capabilities or war economy?

Attacking a data centre can affect more than internet convenience. Such facilities process information, support digital services, and may help organisations coordinate operations. If important capacity is damaged, a country or company may need to spend money, equipment, and staff on repairs instead of other priorities.

Ukraine’s defence ministry said the attacks could force Russia to divert resources to repair damaged capacity. Kyiv also said its strikes were aimed at revenue streams for Moscow’s war machine. Moscow, meanwhile, justified attacks on Ukrainian data centres by saying they were used by Ukrainian military intelligence.

The article presents these claims within a wider cycle of infrastructure attacks. Zelensky said Ukraine was responding to Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres in a “mirror-like fashion.” Russia has also increased strikes on energy infrastructure. The reported consequences include repair demands, possible service disruption, and pressure on systems linked to the war economy.

How can a technology company keep its services running if one of its data centres is destroyed or taken offline?

A technology company can reduce the effect of one failed data centre by shifting requests and stored information to other operating facilities. It can also restore data from copies, limit nonessential functions, and move workloads to facilities elsewhere. These methods require available capacity and functioning network links.

The article shows two responses. Yandex said teams were working day and night to keep services running after the Sasovo and Kaluga attacks. Some Ukrainian firms, facing damaged servers after Russian strikes, had already begun moving data to facilities abroad. Those actions help preserve access when local infrastructure is unavailable.

This approach cannot guarantee a quick recovery. Yandex has five data centres, but two were struck, and the company called them critical for normal service. It said the timing of a full return was very difficult to predict. The article does not say whether Yandex successfully transferred its damaged workloads or whether its AI supercomputers survived.

How do data centres turn computers, storage and internet connections into services that millions of people can use remotely?

A data centre brings together computers, storage systems, and internet connections in one managed facility. Computers perform calculations, storage holds information, and networks carry requests and responses. Together, they let users access a service remotely instead of running its main systems themselves.

For example, a person can enter a search request, order food, book a taxi, or interact with an AI chatbot. The request travels through the internet to the company’s systems. Computers process it using stored data and software, then send a result or instruction back to the user’s device. Many requests can be handled at the same time.

Yandex depends on data centres for normal service operation. Its Sasovo facility houses two of three supercomputers used to develop its AI model. After attacks on Sasovo and Kaluga, some chatbot functions became unavailable and smart home devices might face problems. This shows how centralised infrastructure connects everyday services.

Key Facts:

📌 - Sasovo’s data-centre operations were completely suspended.

📌 - The Kaluga site lost part of its infrastructure.

📌 - Two of Yandex’s five data centres were struck.

📌 - Data centres support Yandex’s search, taxi and food-ordering services.

📌 - Sasovo houses two of Yandex’s three AI supercomputers.

📌 - Some AI chatbot functions became temporarily unavailable.

📌 - Two of Yandex’s five data centres were struck.