Ukrainian drone strikes have partly disabled an AI data centre operated by Russian digital giant Yandex, the company confirmed on Friday. The attack in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow followed a strike on another of the company's data hubs in Sasovo, Ryazan region, which houses two of three supercomputers used to develop Yandex's AI models.
The targeting of Yandex's data infrastructure signals a widening of Ukraine's military campaign to include Russia's technology sector. Moscow has previously struck data hubs inside Ukraine.
Yandex, which operates under close government observation and provides essential digital services including apps and social media to many Russians, said the attacks had struck at the core of its operations. "Our teams are working day and night to keep services running and help those affected by the incident. Right now this is our most important task, but unfortunately it is not an easy one," the company said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to reference the strikes on Thursday, saying: "We always respond in mirror-like fashion. You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding. I can't share all the details."
Ukraine also continues its campaign against Russia's missile production and energy infrastructure. Kyiv's military said it had struck three facilities involved in missile production overnight, including a factory in the Tver region making missile components and a centre for disassembling intercontinental ballistic missiles in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Russia has struck several Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure over the past month, including targets in central Kyiv. Damage from those attacks forced some services to suspend operations, with roughly 100,000 households suffering temporary internet outages after one strike.