Ukrainian drone strikes hit Yandex data centers in Sasovo, Russia, destroying two Nvidia-powered supercomputers used for AI training.
Ukrainian drones struck a major Yandex data center in Sasovo, Russia, triggering a massive fire that forced the company to shut down the facility, according to Reuters and Meduza. Many services using Yandex Cloud were disabled in the aftermath. The site houses two of Yandex's three supercomputers used for AI development, though it remains unclear whether they sustained damage. This attack follows recent Russian missile strikes against Ukrainian digital infrastructure.
The Sasovo facility, one of Yandex's five major data centers, accommodates tens of thousands of servers, including two Nvidia A100-based supercomputers named Chervonenkis and Lyapunov. Chervonenkis, the company's most powerful system, was ranked the world's 19th most powerful supercomputer in the Top 500 list in 2021, but its 21.53 FP64 PFLOPS now places it at 101st—a decline driven by Western sanctions that prevent Yandex from upgrading the system. Both machines have trained AI models, including YandexGPT, Russia's leading large language model. Yandex's third supercomputer, Galushkin, is located in Vladimir.
The company has not disclosed whether its supercomputers were damaged, but the massive fire caused by the strike suggests their prospects for survival are poor. The potential destruction of Nvidia-powered computing infrastructure could severely affect Russia's AI industry, already constrained by restrictions on exports of advanced AI accelerators and servers. If the machines are destroyed or damaged, many components may be permanently lost, and Yandex may be forced to use Chinese infrastructure for future model training.
The attack disrupted Yandex Cloud infrastructure, prompting the company to recommend customers use alternative zones. While Yandex claims its key consumer services remained operational, users reported problems with Yandex Mail, Disk, Documents, Pay, and Market. Other affected services included Cian, Litmarket, Russian Railways, Spartak Moscow, cryptocurrency exchange Rapira, Astral, and the 1C business solutions. Corporate systems at T-Bank, Ozon, and Wildberries also experienced disruptions, according to Meduza. A Moscow-region bus operator suspended online ticket sales, and Detector404 registered 58,268 complaints over 24 hours. Several Russian media outlets, including state-run RIA Novosti, Vesti, and Interfax, went offline following the attack on what they called an "infrastructure partner," reports RBC.
The Yandex data center occupies the former premises of the Sasta machine-tool factory, where Yandex established operations in 2014. Sasta manufactures industrial equipment supplied to various Russian manufacturers, including defense-related enterprises, and is subject to Western sanctions. Regional authorities reported a fire at an industrial facility following the attack, but whether the intended target was the factory or Yandex's computing infrastructure remains unclear. Regardless, Ukraine's sanctions against Russia's economy and military appear more efficient than those imposed by the West.
The incident follows Russian strikes against Ukrainian telecommunications and computing facilities. Since September 23, attacks have damaged or destroyed data centers belonging to at least eight Ukrainian companies, including Virtual Systems, MiroHost, CosmoNova, DataGroup, and CityHost. Popular torrent trackers 1337x and NordicQuality temporarily went offline after servers hosting them were damaged.
Ukraine is moving some digital infrastructure underground, while Russian businesses discuss relocating to countries considered friendly by Moscow—a circle likely limited to just a few states, including China.