Attacks on Yandex's data centers disrupted the operations of Russian bot farms

Ukrainian strikes on data centers belonging to the Russian company “Yandex” caused temporary disruptions in the operation of certain networks used to spread Kremlin propaganda abroad.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, following attacks on facilities in Sasovo, Kaluga, and Vladimir, the volume of posts in certain clusters of the Pravda, InfoDefense, and Nod of Time networks decreased by approximately half.

The disruptions lasted about 12 hours, after which the networks resumed operation. A decrease in views of propaganda content was also recorded in France and the U.S., along with a drop in activity related to certain topic-specific searches on the social network X.

At the same time, the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) emphasizes that no significant overall decline in the activity of all Russian bot farms has been recorded so far.

Source: Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD)

On the night of October 11, drones attacked the Yandex data center in Russia’s Vladimir Oblast. The company confirmed that operations had come to a complete halt, causing widespread disruptions to dozens of digital services across the country.

The Russian technology company Yandex stated that it had completely shut down its data center in Russia’s Vladimir Oblast due to the drone attack. According to the company, its infrastructure was damaged as a result of the attack.