Story perspectives

Drones halt Yandex operations after Russia data center damage

By Drooid · Oct 11, 2026, 6:12 PM UTC · How we work

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Zelensky calls symmetric

Ukrainian drones damaged Yandex data centres in Russia on Oct 8, 9 and 11 2026, halting operations at three sites.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were a symmetric response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres.
Yandex reported its Kaluga centre suffered module damage, disrupting some cloud services.
Governor Vladislav Shapsha said nine people were injured, five hospitalized, after the Kaluga strike.
Yandex shares fell about 4.5% on the Moscow exchange following the attacks.

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Yandex service blackout

Ukrainian drones damaged Yandex data centres in Russia on Oct 8, 9, and 11 2026, halting operations at three sites.
The outages cut off Yandex-powered taxis, cloud services and smart-home apps for millions across Russia and neighboring countries.
Yandex said no injuries occurred at any of the three facilities.
Employees worked around the clock to restore damaged equipment after the Kaluga and Vladimir strikes.

History

Historical Context

The 2017 NotPetya ransomware attack, launched from Russian hacker groups, crippled Ukrainian infrastructure and caused roughly $10 billion in global damages. Cyber-security firm Mandiant traced over 2,000 infected computers, while firms such as Maersk and Merck reported losses exceeding $300 million each. Today, Ukrainian drone strikes on Yandex data centres in Kaluga and Vladimir echo NotPetya’s strategy of targeting critical digital assets to pressure Moscow. The recurrence underscores how cyber-physical warfare reshapes security doctrines, prompting governments and firms worldwide to harden cloud infrastructure and invest in drone defense.

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Zelensky calls symmetric

Ukrainian drones damaged Yandex data centres in Russia on Oct 8, 9 and 11 2026, halting operations at three sites.
Volodymyr Zelensky said the attacks were a symmetric response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian data centres.
Yandex reported its Kaluga centre suffered module damage, disrupting some cloud services.
Governor Vladislav Shapsha said nine people were injured, five hospitalized, after the Kaluga strike.
Yandex shares fell about 4.5% on the Moscow exchange following the attacks.

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