Slashdot has reported:

Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out three of the largest data centres owned by Russian technology company Yandex within several days, causing widespread outages to Russian digital services. Pro-Kremlin bloggers warned that the damage could threaten the country’s centralized digital economy, saying Russia had not prepared for the “data center war” it began. The posts were translated by ChrisO_wiki, a pseudonymous independent researcher.

The Russian commentators also argued that Ukraine’s decentralized digital services could prove more resilient than Russia’s system if the countries continue exchanging strikes. Yandex, often called “Russia’s Google,” has become a target in Ukraine’s response to Russian attacks on Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure.

Russia began a drone campaign against Ukrainian data centres and mobile phone networks in late September. The attacks temporarily disrupted internet and cell service for as many as 100,000 households in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. They formed part of a broader long-range campaign in which Russian missiles and jet-powered drones struck Ukraine’s power grid, transportation hubs and residential apartment blocks.

Ukraine then began striking Yandex data centres. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the attacks as a “symmetrical response.” The damage has reportedly interrupted or disabled popular Russian payment apps and digital banking services, email, e-commerce platforms, video-streaming services, ride-hailing and food-delivery apps, and navigation and map services.

Yandex’s search engine holds about 70 per cent of the market share in Russia. The impact also extends to the company’s cloud-computing service, which serves some of Russia’s largest businesses, according to The Moscow Times, an independent newspaper. Its customers include major grocery and fast-food chains, as well as a household appliance retailer.

The reported outages have prompted warnings from pro-Kremlin commentators that Russia’s reliance on centralized digital services could leave the country vulnerable if strikes continue. Their posts contrasted that system with Ukraine’s more distributed services, which they suggested might better withstand further attacks.