On October 8 and 9, Ukrainian drones hit two Yandex data-center sites in Russia’s Sasovo and Kaluga regions, according to Reuters. The facilities host high-performance supercomputers that train Yandex’s YandexGPT artificial-intelligence model. The strikes were presented as a direct retaliation for a Russian drone campaign that has been disabling Ukrainian data-center capacity since late September, disrupting mobile-phone and Internet services for thousands of users.
The Kaluga strike involved Firepoint’s FP-1 one-way attack drones, a Ukrainian firm reported to Reuters. That site is Yandex’s largest data-center in Russia, while the Sasovo location houses two of the three supercomputers dedicated to YandexGPT training. Yandex confirmed that no staff were injured, but acknowledged that the attacks caused temporary service interruptions.
Russian users reported difficulty accessing a range of online services after the attacks. Media websites, the Ivi video-streaming platform, the T-Bank digital banking app, and the state-run Russian Railways portal were among the most cited outages, according to Meduza. Reuters added that a dating app, a real-estate aggregator, a self-publishing book platform and the website of a leading Russian Premier League soccer club also experienced disruptions.
The incidents illustrate a growing pattern of data-center targeting in the 2026 conflict landscape. Earlier this year, the United States and Israel carried out strikes against Iranian infrastructure, prompting Iranian drones to disable several Amazon data-center sites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Analysts note that the strategic value of high-performance computing clusters makes them attractive military objectives, especially when they support large-scale AI model training.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Russian forces have repeatedly bombed Ukrainian cities, focusing on power-grid nodes, transport hubs and residential blocks. Ukraine has struggled to acquire enough interceptor systems to shoot down incoming missiles and jet-powered drones, yet it has steadily expanded its own medium- and long-range drone arsenal in retaliation. Recent Ukrainian operations have emphasized strikes on Russian military bases, supply corridors, and energy facilities such as oil refineries.
The campaign has broadened to commercial targets as well. In the summer of 2026, Ukrainian forces hit warehouses belonging to Russian e-commerce firms Wildberries and Ozon, often described as Russia’s Amazon equivalents. More recently, coordinated aerial and sea drone attacks sank two merchant vessels in the Black Sea inside the exclusive economic zones of NATO members Romania and Bulgaria on October 5 and 6, incidents that President Zelensky linked to Russian actions.