Ukrainian drone attacks cripple Yandex data centers, sparking nationwide internet outage

Over the course of three nights, Ukrainian forces used drones to hit Yandex data centers in the Vladimir, Ryazan and Kaluga regions, temporarily disabling the company's own services and those of many Russian businesses that depend on its cloud storage. The outages affected everyday functions such as taxi ordering, online payments, food delivery and email access, hitting major banks, retailers and news sites. Yandex classified such attacks as force majeure and has shifted its cloud platform to emergency mode, indicating that its backup capacity is depleted.

Analysts warn that any further strike on the remaining facilities would deepen the crisis, while the company recommends customers back up data with rivals like Selectel, K2Cloud and VK Cloud. Russian officials have begun discussing protective measures, but equipment replacement may take up to six months, meaning full restoration is unlikely in the short term.