Yandex faces up to six-month rebuild after Ukrainian drone attacks on data centers

Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged three of Yandex's six known data centers, prompting a lengthy restoration effort that could extend to six months. The firm intends to acquire replacement hardware via various routes, even tapping foreign markets, as prices for such equipment are climbing sharply. According to Sergei Kudryashov of Strategy Partners, the facilities are sizable and were built amid a worldwide shortage and price surge for computing power, particularly AI accelerators, making the rebuild both costly and time-consuming.

The heightened expenses are likely to be reflected in higher fees for Yandex's cloud services. In response to the attacks, Yandex has restricted downloads from its Yandex Disk cloud storage to preserve the functionality of its other offerings, such as the taxi platform, which experienced outages. The combined effect underscores growing challenges for Russian tech firms operating under supply constraints and geopolitical pressure.