Ukraine’s Drone Strikes Cripple Russian Data Centers, Hampering Cloud Services and AI Development

Russia boasts advanced digital capabilities, ranging from a robust e‑commerce ecosystem to ambitious artificial‑intelligence initiatives.

Now, however, several of its pivotal data centers—central to the country’s technical infrastructure—have been knocked out by Ukrainian drone strikes in the four‑and‑a‑half‑year‑old war, causing damage that may take months or years to repair.

This month Ukraine targeted three major data centers: one owned by tech giant Yandex, another belonging to the country’s largest bank Sberbank, and a third operated by VKontakte, Russia’s leading social‑media platform.

Although the companies have remained tight‑lipped about the extent of the damage, Russians have reported extensive cloud‑service outages. Banking, e‑commerce, geolocation, ride‑hailing, Alisa (Yandex’s virtual assistant) and multimodal AI chatbots have all been severely affected.

The impact even reached the judicial sector, where arbitration courts were forced to cancel or postpone hearings and lost access to key databases.

Most analysts say restoration could take months, if not years, and warn that Russia’s ambition to become an AI leader could be set back dramatically.

“This effectively sets Russia far behind in the AI race,” said Mikhail Klimarev, head of the Internet Protection Society.

Data centers have become the latest targets in the aerial campaigns that both sides wage against each other’s critical infrastructure.

Russia has launched missiles and drones against Ukraine’s power grid and other vital sites in an effort to erode morale and resistance. Moscow intensified these assaults as winter set in, exploiting a shortage of U.S.‑supplied Patriot interceptors, whose stocks have been depleted by America’s conflict with Iran.

Ukraine responded with a series of drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, sparking a severe fuel crisis that has affected millions of civilians.

U.S. President Donald Trump attributed rising global oil prices to the attacks, which have escalated partly because of the U.S. war in Iran. In a surprising move earlier this month, Trump agreed to import diesel oil from President Vladimir Putin, drawing criticism from Ukraine and its allies.

Ukraine also struck large warehouses belonging to Russia’s leading online retailers, Wildberries and Ozon.

Kyiv’s assault on Russian data centers followed Moscow’s recent strikes on Ukrainian data centers, which disrupted the internet and television services.

On October 8, Ukrainian drones struck a Yandex data center in Sasovo, Ryazan Oblast, which houses two of the company’s three supercomputers. A center in Kaluga was hit the next day, and another in Vladimir was attacked on October 11.

Sberbank’s data center and AI hub in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, was hit on October 14, and four days later Kyiv struck a VKontakte‑hosted data center in St. Petersburg.

Oil refineries and warehouses may be easy targets, but data centers are even softer—large facilities packed with servers, power and cooling systems. Even a drone carrying a modest explosive load can cause lasting damage.

The vulnerability of data centers was highlighted by Iran, whose drones damaged two Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain. AWS reported last month that it could not fully restore access to the resources and data stored at two of the sites.

Yandex had conducted drills for a potential loss of one of its six data centers, yet it was caught off‑guard when three of its primary facilities were hit within four days. The failure of nearby air defenses remains unclear.

“Russia’s challenge is covering such a vast territory with air defenses, and it simply doesn’t have enough,” said Nick Reiners, a senior geotechnology analyst at Eurasia Group.

Ukraine has placed critical data on servers in allied European nations, which helps mitigate damage from Russian strikes. By contrast, Moscow’s strict digital‑sovereignty policy mandates that all data remain on domestic soil, rendering it highly vulnerable.

“Because all infrastructure and data reside within Russia, it is relatively easier to take down,” Reiners added.

Klimarev suggested the attacks might prompt major Russian firms to shift data overseas, while authorities could relax internet‑control measures to limit further disruption.

“Paradoxically, the strikes have saved the Russian internet from isolation, because computing assets will likely need to move to Europe,” Klimarev observed. “Many Russian firms are now looking to rent capacity on the European market.”

Yandex is a cornerstone of digital life across Russia and several former Soviet republics, offering search, cloud storage, payment services, geolocation, ride‑hailing, and e‑commerce.

“Yandex is essentially a blend of Uber, Amazon, and Google,” Reiners commented, noting that all services are “concentrated in just a few data centers.” “From a strategic viewpoint, they’re an excellent target.”

The assaults on Yandex caused unprecedented outages, crippling payments, online orders, taxi services, and access to personal data.

Igor Mann, a Moscow resident, said he was unable to collect an order from Yandex Market. He tried using a virtual private network, but “nothing worked.”

Taxi driver Pavel Belyavskiy, who receives orders through Yandex’s ride‑hailing app, was unable to connect with passengers.

“On several trips already, I’ve ended up waiting a long time and had to cancel because I couldn’t contact the passenger,” he said.

The attacks also disrupted services at several major firms and banks that depend on Yandex’s cloud platform.

“It’s not just about convenience — it’s also about work … tied to everyday life,” said another resident, Eduard Malyavko.

Yandex announced that most critical cloud services were restored within days by rerouting traffic to other Russian data centers. However, the setbacks to its AI research are considered extensive and long‑term.

As the global AI boom drives demand for computing power, Yandex has invested in massive data centers. Its three supercomputers used for model development rank among the world’s top 500, with the Sasovo facility’s machine holding the 19th position.

Yandex has not released detailed figures on the impact, but satellite imagery shows serious damage to its facilities. Analysts note that fires likely destroyed high‑end chips and other critical hardware.

“Given the severity of the strikes, it’s unlikely that anything remained intact — the equipment is fragile, demanding, and expensive,” Klimarev said. “Fire‑generated soot is especially harmful to electronics.”

Russia already trails the United States and China by years, and “Ukraine’s drone strikes will likely set back Russian AI efforts even further,” said Connor Martin of the Council for Foreign Relations.

In a commentary, he noted that Russia will probably find it difficult to replace the U.S.‑designed Nvidia A100 chips that power Yandex’s supercomputers.

Klimarev added that the global shortage of high‑end chips, together with sanctions limiting their flow into Russia, will make repairs prolonged and expensive.

“I’m not sure it can be done in six months, a year, or at all,” he said.

——

Kelvin Chan in London contributed.

Source link