Yandex cannot specify a timeline for the restoration of its data centers following the drone attacks

The Russian company Yandex is currently unable to specify when the two data centers damaged by drone attacks on October 8 and 9 will resume operations. The facility in Sasovo, Ryazan Oblast, has completely ceased operations, while part of the infrastructure at the data center in Kaluga has been rendered inoperable.

 

The company reported that it is continuing to assess the extent of the damage and determine which equipment can be restored. At the same time, the exact timeline for restoring the facilities to operation remains unknown.

“Data centers are the ‘iron heart’ of Yandex. Their operational capability is critical for the services that have become part of people’s daily lives. We are continuing to assess the condition of the infrastructure, but it is currently very difficult to specify a timeline for restoring operations at the data centers,” the company said in a statement.

The first attack occurred on the night of October 7–8 in the city of Sasovo. A fire broke out at the facility, after which operations were completely halted. On the morning of October 9, drones attacked another of the company’s data centers—in Kaluga—where several infrastructure modules were rendered inoperable. According to Yandex, no employees at either facility were injured.

Following the damage to the data center in Sasovo, widespread disruptions occurred in the Russian segment of the internet. The problems affected Yandex’s own services, as well as the websites of Russian Railways, certain banks, media outlets, and other companies that used the infrastructure of the damaged facility.

The new attack on the infrastructure in Kaluga poses additional risks to the stable operation of the company’s services. Yandex noted that specialists are continuing to assess the situation, and restoring the equipment may prove to be a difficult task.

According to the company, its infrastructure consists of five data centers in total. It is currently unknown how long it will take to restore the damaged facilities and fully stabilize the equipment’s operation.

As a reminder, Ukrainian drones attacked a second Yandex data center within 24 hours.

Earlier, in Russia’s Ryazan Region, a fire broke out at a Yandex data center following a drone attack.

A major outage was recorded in the Russian segment of the internet on October 8 at around 4:00 p.m. Problems arose with banks, online services, mobile operators, e-commerce sites, and other platforms.

New images from Planet Labs show the aftermath of the strike on the Yandex data center in the city of Sasovo in the Ryazan region of the Russian Federation. The images reveal damage and signs of fire on the building’s roof.