Ukraine strikes Yandex data centre in third attack on Russian tech giant

Yandex's data centres have been targeted three times this week, according to BBC News — Business. The company, dubbed

, has been forced to pause its operations at a data centre near Moscow after the facility was damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike. The attack occurred at a centre in Vladimir, east of the capital, and some of Yandex's services were unavailable to users.

Earlier this week, Yandex said it was struggling to maintain its services after two of its five data centres were hit in Ukrainian strikes. The company confirmed on Telegram that its data centre in Vladimir had been damaged and that operations had been "completely suspended", although it said it was working to restore connectivity.

The other strikes against Yandex facilities were on Thursday in Sasovo and Friday in Kaluga, south-west of Moscow, causing problems for some of its services, such as its AI chatbot and smart home devices. Yandex said at the time that its data centres were critical for the normal operation of its services, and that it was "very difficult to predict" when they would be back online.

The attacks on Yandex's data centres are part of a larger conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has been ongoing for five years. Both countries have stepped up attacks on infrastructure in recent months, with Kyiv targeting places that provide revenue streams for Moscow's war machine.