Drones struck a data center owned by Russia's Yandex in the town of Sasovo, marking the first major attack on a Russian data hub since the Ukraine war began

The operational status of Yandex's largest data center facility is now uncertain, potentially affecting services for its Russian users.

A Yandex data center in Sasovo, Ryazan Oblast, Russia, was struck by a drone on October 8, 2026, causing a fire and forcing operations to cease. This marks the first major attack on a Russian data hub since the conflict with Ukraine began. Yandex Cloud's status dashboard reported a power outage at its ru-central-b availability zone, with disruptions starting at 1:31 AM local time and ongoing. The facility is part of the Sasta production complex, which supports various industries including the Russian defense sector. While several data centers in Ukraine have been targeted throughout the war, this is the first significant strike on Russian data infrastructure. Yandex, often referred to as "Russia's Google," previously operated under a Dutch holding company but fully separated its European and Russian operations in February 2024.

The drone attack on Yandex's Sasovo data center signifies a new phase in the Ukraine conflict, extending hostilities to critical digital infrastructure within Russia itself. This event escalates the risk profile for data centers operating in or near conflict zones, potentially prompting increased security measures and a reassessment of geographical risk for cloud providers and their clients globally. It also highlights the vulnerability of essential digital services to physical disruption, even in sophisticated, large-scale facilities.

As Yandex's largest data center, the Sasovo facility's disruption could have immediate and far-reaching consequences for Russian businesses and consumers reliant on its cloud services. The attack underscores the interconnectedness of physical security and digital operations, suggesting that the geopolitical climate will increasingly dictate the stability and availability of cloud infrastructure. Future attacks could target similar hubs, forcing a strategic re-evaluation of data center placement and resilience planning across the industry.