Yandex Services Disrupted in Russia After Strikes on Data Centres

Russian media report that a data centre of the Russian technology company Yandex in the city of Vladimir has been halted following a strike by Ukraine's armed forces. At the same time, users in various Russian regions are complaining of disruptions to the company's popular services. The news outlet Dialog.ua notes that this is already the third Yandex data centre targeted by Ukraine within a few days.

What is known about the attack

Earlier strikes hit facilities in Sasovo and Kaluga, and the server complex in Vladimir became the next target. A screenshot of a report by the Russian news agency TASS, circulating on social media, says the data centre was stopped after a drone attack. That claim, however, still requires additional verification.

User complaints

Complaints have been received about several of the company's services, including the taxi app Yandex Taxi, the music service Yandex Music and the smart-device product "Home with Alice". Users in Rostov say the taxi app no longer shows available drivers. A message spreading on social media claims that more than 80 company services went offline after the attack on Vladimir. Earlier, the cloud platform Yandex Cloud had recorded power supply problems and issues with dozens of cloud computing components.

Ukraine's explanation

The strikes come amid Russia's regular attacks on Ukrainian energy and civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously described strikes on Russian data centres as a response, saying: "They have been hitting and are hitting our data centres. We responded to them."

The extent of the damage at the Vladimir site, and whether all the disruptions are linked to the latest attack, has not yet been fully established.