Ukraine takes aim at Russia’s AI data infrastructure

Drone attacks target Russian digital giant Yandex, as well as continuing strikes on missile plants and oil refineries, following a wave of Russian attacks on data hubs inside Ukraine.

Smoke billows from Yandex's Sasovo hub after a fire following a drone strike forced the suspension of operations at the site in Sasovo, Russia, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video on October 8, 2026 [Reuters]

Ukrainian drone strikes have partly disabled an AI data centre operated by Russian digital giant Yandex.

The strike on Friday followed an attack on another of the company’s data hubs the previous day, appearing to signal that Ukraine’s military campaign is widening its scope to target Russia’s technology infrastructure. Moscow has previously targeted data hubs inside Ukraine.

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Yandex, which is heavily involved in Russia’s AI development efforts, said its data centre in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow had been struck by Ukrainian drones and partly put out of action.

A day earlier, a Ukrainian attack shut down a major data hub in Sasovo in the Ryazan region, where two of the three supercomputers used to develop the company’s AI models are housed.

A food delivery robot operated by Yandex makes its way through the Moscow International Business Centre [File: Alexander Nemenov/AFP]

Yandex, which operates under close government observation, said the attacks had struck at the core of its operations and that it was trying to maintain its services.

“Our teams are working day and night to keep services running and help those affected by the incident. Right now this is our most important task, but unfortunately it is not an easy one,” it said in a statement.

The company operates numerous apps that many Russians consider essential, as well as social media networks.

Russia has struck several Ukrainian data centres and telecommunications infrastructure facilities over the past month, including targets in central Kyiv.

Damage from the attacks has forced some services to suspend operations. Roughly 100,000 households suffered temporary internet outages after an attack.

“We always respond in mirror-like fashion,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday, following the Ryazan strike. “You all know, they have been hitting and continue to hit our data centres. We are responding. I can’t share all the details.”

Kyiv also continues its campaign targeting Russia’s missile production and energy infrastructure, hoping to reduce the air strikes against which it has struggled to defend, as well as to hurt Moscow’s economic ability to wage war.

Ukraine’s military said it had hit three facilities involved in missile production across Russia overnight, including a factory in the Tver region making missile components and a centre for disassembling intercontinental ballistic missiles in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

In a statement on Telegram, the General Staff said the Russian facility for the “liquidation of intercontinental ballistic missiles” was hit to degrade Russia’s ability to source explosives and rocket fuel.

Nizhny Novgorod’s governor said that one serviceman was killed repelling the attack while drone debris caused “minimal” damage to infrastructure.

A drone attack sparked a fire at a plant in Redkino in the Tver region, but it was quickly extinguished, the local governor said.

The Ukhta oil refinery belonging to the state giant Lukoil, 1,900km (1,180 miles) from the Ukrainian border, was also struck, according to Zelenskyy.

Meanwhile, Russia’s air campaign has continued to hit civilians, despite the Kremlin’s insistence that it only attacks military targets.

Overnight strikes killed one and injured seven in the city of Zaporizhzhia, regional defence official Ivan Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia also struck a cargo vessel in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow said, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. The ministry said the vessel was being used to supply the Ukrainian military.

继俄罗斯对乌克兰境内数据中心发动一系列袭击之后，无人机袭击的目标还包括俄罗斯数字巨头 Yandex，以及持续袭击导弹工厂和炼油厂。

2026年10月8日，在俄罗斯萨索沃，无人机袭击引发火灾，导致Yandex的萨索沃数据中心被迫暂停运营，现场浓烟滚滚。（路透社）

乌克兰无人机袭击部分瘫痪了俄罗斯数字巨头 Yandex 运营的一个人工智能数据中心。

周五的袭击发生在该公司另一个数据中心前一天遭到袭击之后，这似乎表明乌克兰的军事行动正在扩大目标，将矛头指向俄罗斯的技术基础设施。莫斯科此前也曾袭击过乌克兰境内的数据中心。

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深度参与俄罗斯人工智能开发工作的 Yandex 公司表示，其位于莫斯科西南卡卢加州的数据中心遭到乌克兰无人机袭击，部分设施已无法运行。

一天前，乌克兰发动的一次袭击导致位于梁赞地区萨索沃的一个主要数据中心关闭，该公司用于开发人工智能模型的三个超级计算机中的两个就位于该数据中心。

由 Yandex 运营的送餐机器人正在莫斯科国际商务中心穿行。[图片：Alexander Nemenov/AFP]

在政府严密监控下运营的Yandex表示，这些攻击打击了其运营的核心，该公司正在努力维持其服务。

声明中表示：“我们的团队正在日夜不停地工作，以确保各项服务正常运行，并帮助受事件影响的人们。目前，这是我们最重要的任务，但不幸的是，这并不容易。”

该公司运营着众多被许多俄罗斯人视为必不可少的应用程序以及社交媒体网络。

过去一个月，俄罗斯袭击了乌克兰的多个数据中心和电信基础设施，其中包括基辅市中心的目标。

攻击造成的损失迫使一些服务暂停运行。大约10万户家庭在攻击后遭遇了短暂的互联网中断。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基周四在梁赞袭击事件后表示：“我们一贯以对等方式回应。你们都知道，他们一直在袭击我们的数据中心，而且还在继续袭击。我们正在做出回应。我无法透露所有细节。”

基辅方面继续开展针对俄罗斯导弹生产和能源基础设施的行动，希望减少俄罗斯难以抵御的空袭，并削弱莫斯科发动战争的经济能力。

乌克兰军方称，他们连夜袭击了俄罗斯境内三处导弹生产设施，其中包括特维尔州一家生产导弹部件的工厂和下诺夫哥罗德州一家洲际弹道导弹拆解中心。

俄罗斯总参谋部在 Telegram 上发表声明称，袭击俄罗斯“洲际弹道导弹销毁设施”是为了削弱俄罗斯获取炸药和火箭燃料的能力。

下诺夫哥罗德州长表示，一名军人在击退袭击中丧生，无人机碎片对基础设施造成的损害“微乎其微”。

当地州长表示，无人机袭击导致特维尔州雷德基诺一家工厂发生火灾，但火势很快被扑灭。

据泽连斯基称，位于乌克兰边境 1900 公里（1180 英里）处、属于国有石油巨头卢克石油公司的乌赫塔炼油厂也遭到袭击。

与此同时，尽管克里姆林宫坚称其空袭目标仅限于军事目标，但俄罗斯的空袭行动仍在继续，平民也未能幸免。

扎波罗热地区国防官员伊万·费多罗夫在 Telegram 即时通讯应用上表示，夜间空袭造成该市一人死亡，七人受伤。

据俄罗斯国家通讯社俄新社报道，俄罗斯国防部称，俄罗斯还在乌克兰黑海港口尼古拉耶夫袭击了一艘货船。国防部表示，该船当时正用于向乌克兰军方运送物资。