Ukrainian drone attacks on several major Russian data centres have disrupted key digital services, including banking, online shopping, taxi bookings and cloud computing, raising concerns about the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) development, reports UNB.
The attacks took place between 8 and 18 October, targeting three facilities operated by technology company Yandex, one belonging to Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and another serving social media platform VKontakte. Ukrainian drones hit Yandex facilities in the Ryazan, Kaluga and Vladimir regions before targeting Sberbank’s data centre in Balakovo and a facility serving VKontakte in St Petersburg.
The damage caused widespread service interruptions across Russia, affecting businesses, ordinary users and even the judicial system. Some arbitration courts reportedly had to postpone hearings after losing access to databases. Taxi driver Pavel Belyavskiy said he had to cancel several trips because he could not contact passengers through the company’s app.
Experts warn that repairing the damaged facilities could take months or even years, potentially slowing Russia’s efforts to compete with the United States and China in AI development. Yandex operates three supercomputers used to develop AI models, including one at its Sasovo facility that ranked 19 globally. Replacing advanced US-designed Nvidia A100 chips could prove difficult because of global shortages and Western sanctions restricting technology supplies to Russia.
Internet Protection Society head Mikhail Klimarev said the attacks could leave Russia significantly behind in the global AI race. Eurasia Group senior geotechnology analyst Nick Reiners said Russia’s vast territory and limited air defence resources made it difficult to protect all critical facilities.
The strikes followed Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres, which disrupted internet services and television broadcasts. Russia’s policy of keeping data within its borders has also increased the vulnerability of its digital infrastructure. Unlike Ukraine, which stores critical information on servers in allied European countries, Russia requires much of its data to remain on domestic systems.
Yandex said it restored most of its key cloud services within days by shifting operations to other data centres in Russia. However, concerns remain over the impact on its AI research, with experts noting that fires caused by the attacks may have damaged expensive computer chips and other sensitive equipment.
