The Pulse
Drone Strikes Knock Out Parts of Two Yandex Data Centers
Drone strikes damaged Yandex data centers in Sasovo and Kaluga on October 8 and October 9, respectively, leaving Sasovo shut down and part of Kaluga’s infrastructure out of service. Yandex has not disclosed the condition of the two supercom
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Ukraine’s stated policy of mirroring Russian attacks on data centers has collided with Yandex’s effort to keep its services running: drone strikes damaged two of the company’s facilities on consecutive days. Yandex says its Sasovo data center was seriously damaged and completely shut down after an attack overnight from October 7 to 8. Its Kaluga site was attacked on October 9, with part of its infrastructure put out of service. The company says no employees were hurt, but it has not given a timeline for restoring the equipment.
The outages also put a question mark over AI computing capacity. Two of Yandex’s three supercomputers are housed at Sasovo, according to Al Jazeera’s October 9 report, which cites Reuters and AFP. Yandex has not said whether either machine was damaged.
Sasovo shut down; Kaluga partly offline
Yandex’s October 9 statement describes separate damage at the two sites. The company says the Sasovo facility in Russia’s Ryazan region was “seriously damaged” and “completely shut down.” At its Kaluga data center, it says, part of the infrastructure is out of service. Emergency responders and Yandex specialists were working at both locations when the company published its update.
Yandex’s account does not identify who carried out the attacks. Al Jazeera reported that Ukrainian drones struck the facilities, with the Kaluga attack following the Sasovo strike by a day. The distinction between the two sites matters: Yandex confirmed Sasovo’s shutdown, but described Kaluga as a partial outage, not a full closure.
Two of Yandex’s three supercomputers are at Sasovo
The Sasovo outage has particular significance for Yandex’s AI work because two of the company’s three supercomputers are based there. Those systems are used to develop its AI models, Al Jazeera reported. Yandex has not disclosed whether the supercomputers were damaged or rendered unusable.
Yandex says it is still assessing the condition of its infrastructure. The company also says it cannot yet say when equipment at either data center will be back online.
Ukraine describes the strikes as a response
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy framed the Sasovo attack as reciprocal action after Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centers. Al Jazeera reported that he spoke after the Ryazan strike:
“We always respond in mirror-like fashion,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, following the Ryazan strike.
Zelenskyy added that Russia had continued to hit Ukraine’s data centers and said he could not share all the details.
That explanation comes from Ukraine’s president; Yandex’s statement focuses on damage, service continuity and repair work. The strikes followed Russian attacks on data centers and telecommunications infrastructure in Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported. The company’s own update does not make a claim about the military purpose of either attack.
Yandex has no restoration timetable
Yandex says its teams are working to keep services operating and assist users, customers and partners affected by the disruption. The company names everyday services including traffic and route planning, music, movies and grocery orders, as well as technology used by businesses. It does not specify which individual products or customers are currently affected.
“For now, it is very difficult to say when the equipment at the data centers will be back up and running,” Yandex said. Its October 9 statement promises further updates as its assessment continues, but gives no date for repairs. For now, the confirmed operational picture is specific: Sasovo is shut down, part of Kaluga is out of service, and the status of the two Sasovo-based supercomputers has not been disclosed.