Ukrainian drone strikes knock out Russian data centres, halt online services and court hearings
Ukrainian drones have struck five Russian data centres owned by Yandex, Sberbank and VKontakte, causing Yandex Cloud to run at roughly 30% of its normal capacity and disrupting dozens of online services such as payment, taxi and mapping apps. The outages forced arbitration courts in several oblasts to cancel or delay online hearings because they could not record or retrieve documents. The attacks also appear to have seriously damaged Yandex’s three supercomputers, raising concerns about Russia’s AI development. Analysts say restoring the facilities could take months, and replacement of U.S.-made components is difficult due to export restrictions.
How this was covered
- Left-leaning outlets covered this 34h later
- Left-leaning coverage is the most divided on this story
Why it matters
The strikes interrupt everyday digital services and the functioning of the judicial system for ordinary Russian users.
How this story developed
- Oct 8 Ukraine seeks German ports to boost grain exports amid Black Sea closures
- Oct 12 Two merchant vessels were hit by drones off Bulgaria, with one sinking and the other catching fire; no casualties have been confirmed.
- Oct 13 Prime Minister Radev summoned the Russian ambassador to Sofia.
- Oct 16 Bulgaria said it has no solid evidence linking Russia to the drone attacks.
- Oct 17 Romania restarted a rescue operation to locate seven sailors missing after the Wine Trader was hit.
- Oct 19 Ukrainian attacks on Russian data centers this month have knocked out Yandex Pay, taxis, maps and other services, causing temporary hassles for users across Russia and abroad.
- Oct 20 Ukraine began pursuing German seaports as an alternative export route.
- Oct 23 A strike also damaged a VKontakte data facility in St. Petersburg.
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