Ukrainian Drones Strike Russia's Largest Yandex Data Center
A massive 63 MW Yandex data center in Kaluga has been hit by a Ukrainian drone strike, following a previous attack in Sasovo and marking a significant escalation in attacks on regional digital infrastructure.
Radwan AbdulhadiEditor and technology writer
Kaluga Facility Struck by Drones
Hot on the heels of a previous incident, a major infrastructure target has been hit following a Ukrainian drone strike <a href="https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/second-russian-data-center-targeted-by-ukrainian-drones-in-just-two-days-as-yandex-reels-from-another-service-outage-russian-state-media-admits-that-multiple-modules-completely-taken-out">on a Russian Yandex data center</a> in Sasovo. A similar fate befell a Yandex facility situated in Kaluga, leaving parts of the vast campus completely out of service.
According to reports from United24 Media, the targeted location sits within the Grabtsevo industrial park. The facility was originally constructed to serve as the largest Yandex data center across all of Russia, having entered service only in the second half of 2023 before facing this disruptive incident three years later.
Scale and Specifications of the Campus
The Kaluga data center is an expansive complex covering approximately 1.4 million square feet, or roughly 130,000 square meters. Its scale is massive, featuring a 63-megawatt power capacity that sits about 50% higher than several other data centers operated by Yandex.
Housing more than 3,800 server racks, the campus was designed to expand Yandex's cloud offerings and manage internal corporate services. While its immense scale made it an apparent point of interest for drone operators, confirmation of whether the facility was the intentional target of the operation remains unverified.
Confirmation From Russian State Media
Russian state media outlets quickly acknowledged the severe impact of the drone activity. TASS confirmed the severity of the operational disruption, stating that several modules of the Kaluga facility were completely taken out of operation as a result of the UAV attack.
The full extent of the disruption to everyday consumers remains under observation. However, the preceding Sasovo strike notably impacted Yandex Cloud services, with users experiencing widespread difficulties affecting platforms like Yandex Mail, Disk, Documents, Pay, and Market.
Broader Regional Infrastructure Impact
The strikes on Yandex infrastructure are part of a broader pattern of escalating attacks targeting digital infrastructure across the region. Earlier in the month, separate missile strikes carried out by Russian forces targeted a Ukrainian facility, successfully taking the world's second-largest torrent tracker offline.
As technology companies and infrastructure operators navigate these persistent security challenges, readers seeking further updates and detailed industry coverage can check out additional reporting <a href="https://google.com/preferences/source?q=tomshardware.com">on Tom's Hardware</a> for ongoing developments.
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- Tom's HardwareUkrainian drones strike Russia's largest data center, multiple parts of 1.4 million square foot campus knocked offline
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