Yandex faces outages amid ongoing conflict with Ukraine
Yandex, a major Russian tech company, has recently experienced significant service outages, disrupting operations for users amid escalating tensions with Ukraine, reports BritPanorama.
Drivers for Yandex Taxi, like Valery from Krasnodar, have reported issues with the app displaying error messages and sending multiple cars to the same customer. Valery, who has only been working with Yandex for a few months, expressed concern over his inability to access his earnings, stating, “If I can’t access my pay in another week or two, I will start looking for another job.”
The outages have extended beyond Yandex, impacting data centers operated by Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, and tech company VK as well. Analysts suggest that these disruptions are part of a broader strategy by Ukraine to create awareness among ordinary Russians regarding the war’s impact on daily life. “Ukraine’s campaign from the start has had as one of its objectives bringing home to ordinary Russians the fact that they are at war, and this involves consequences,” noted Keir Giles from Chatham House.
Robert Tollast, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London, suggested that Yandex is a target due to its role in shaping public perception in Russia. Data centers also possess increasing military significance, as both Ukraine and Russia leverage battlefield data to enhance operational effectiveness.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked that the government is not yet considering financial aid for those affected by Yandex’s issues, characterizing the company as “strong and powerful.” Meanwhile, Minister of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev indicated that measures are being considered to protect data centers following what he called an “unprecedented attack.”
In a recent meeting about digital security, President Vladimir Putin addressed the growing threats to Russia’s technology infrastructure, though Peskov clarified that this meeting was unrelated to the recent outages. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of targeting Ukrainian data centers in retaliation, stating that Moscow seeks to undermine internet access for Ukrainians. He described the ongoing strikes, claiming that it had become “a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms” due to fewer Russian bots, although there is no verification of this effect.
Analysts point out that while both sides have targeted data centers, the concentrated nature of Russian facilities makes them particularly vulnerable. Mykhailo Samus, a Ukrainian military analyst, stated, “While Ukraine’s data centers are widely dispersed, many of Russia’s are concentrated in a handful of large facilities, meaning a strike on a single site can disrupt services spanning transport, internet access and payments.”
This ongoing battle over technological infrastructure highlights the complexities of modern warfare, where digital assets are increasingly becoming a focal point for both disruption and strategy.
