Russian technology company Yandex said a drone attack disabled several modules at its data centre in the Kaluga region on Friday, October 9, marking the second reported strike on a Yandex facility in two days. Reuters reported that some services could be disrupted and no one was injured. The drone type and responsibility for the Kaluga attack were not identified in the report.
Key Takeaways
- Yandex said several modules at its Kaluga-region data centre were disabled on October 9.
- The company warned of possible service disruption and reported no injuries.
- A separate attack hit Yandex’s Sasovo data centre in the Ryazan region on October 8, causing a fire and suspension of operations at that site.
- The drone model, full damage assessment and responsibility for the Kaluga attack remain unconfirmed in the reporting reviewed.
Who Is Yandex and Why Do Its Data Centres Matter?
Yandex is one of Russia’s largest technology companies, with search, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and consumer services. Data centres support computing workloads and online services, so physical damage can affect more than the facility itself.
Reuters reported that the earlier-affected Sasovo site hosted tens of thousands of servers and had housed two of Yandex’s three supercomputers used to develop YandexGPT. Those details concern Sasovo and should not be assumed to describe the equipment at Kaluga.
What Happened at the Kaluga Data Centre?
Reuters reported on October 9, citing Yandex, that several modules at the Kaluga-region site had been completely disabled by a drone attack. The company said some services might be disrupted and that no one was injured. The available account does not say whether the whole facility stopped operating or identify which systems were affected.
When Did the Two Reported Attacks Occur?
The Kaluga incident was reported on Friday, October 9, 2026. On Thursday, October 8, Yandex reported a separate strike at its Sasovo hub in the Ryazan region. Reuters said the earlier attack caused a fire and forced operations at that site to be suspended while services were being restored.
Where Were the Facilities Located?
The latest reported attack affected a Yandex data centre in Russia’s Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow. The earlier strike affected the company’s Sasovo hub in the Ryazan region, southeast of the capital. The reports do not establish the drones’ launch points or flight paths.
Why Are Drone Attacks on Data Centres Significant?
Drone attacks have increasingly affected infrastructure beyond traditional military sites, including energy facilities, ports, vessels and warehouses. Data centres add a digital dependency: a physical incident can disrupt cloud workloads or computing capacity even if a company’s wider network remains operational.
The incidents underline the value of geographic redundancy, resilient power and network arrangements, and recovery plans that do not depend on a single facility. The available reporting does not establish the precise operational impact of the Kaluga attack, so claims of a wider outage would be premature.
What Remains Unconfirmed?
The drone model, full extent of physical damage, status of individual computing systems and responsibility for the Kaluga attack had not been established in the Reuters report. Reuters described the October 8 Sasovo incident as a Ukrainian drone attack, but that attribution should not automatically be carried over to the separate Kaluga event.
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