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A Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at a Yandex data center in Sasovo, Russia’s Ryazan region, and the facility has halted operations. The site houses two of Yandex’s three supercomputers; the company has not reported their condition, while users have reported outages affecting Yandex services and other sites.
A Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at a Yandex data center in Sasovo, in Russia’s Ryazan region, and the facility has completely halted operations, according to Meduza. No injuries were reported. The site houses two of Yandex’s three supercomputers, but the company has not said whether either system was damaged.
Yandex has warned that some of its services may be unavailable. Users have reported problems with Yandex services, including Yandex Cloud and services that depend on it, such as Yandex Disk and Yandex Documents. Meduza also reported outages affecting the websites of Cian, Russian Railways and administrations in several regions. The full scope and duration of the disruptions have not been established.
The fire was reported at the grounds of the Sasta machine-tool plant. Ryazan regional authorities did not name the facility, saying only that a roof at “one of the enterprises” caught fire after the attack, according to Meduza. The outlet reported that Yandex has operated a data center in part of Sasta’s former premises since 2014. It also reported that no one was injured and that the data center stopped operating.
The Sasovo facility houses Lyapunov and Chervonenkis, two supercomputers Yandex uses to train neural networks. T-invariant, an independent science-focused outlet cited by Meduza, described Chervonenkis as Yandex’s most powerful supercomputer. The company’s third system, Galushkin, is located in Vladimir, according to the report. Yandex had not provided information on the condition of the Sasovo machines at the time of publication.
Services and Computing Capacity at Risk
The halt matters both to users of Yandex services and to the company’s computing capacity. Cloud infrastructure can support multiple products, so disruptions at the data center may affect services beyond the facility itself. Meduza reported complaints and outages across several Yandex products, but the precise technical links and extent of impact have not been independently detailed in the source material.
The site also contains two systems used for neural-network training. Damage to either machine, or a prolonged loss of access to the data center, could affect Yandex’s computing resources. That impact remains conditional: there is no confirmed assessment of the supercomputers’ status, and the length of the shutdown is unknown.
Yandex shares fell more than 3% amid the strike, Meduza reported, citing Moscow Exchange data. That is a reported market movement, not evidence by itself of the attack’s long-term financial effect. The fire’s consequences for the company, its customers and other services will depend on how quickly operations can resume and whether equipment was damaged.
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The Sasovo Site and Its Systems
Yandex’s data center has occupied part of the former Sasta premises in Sasovo since 2014, according to Meduza. The report says center employees showed equipment there in September and identified their workplace as being in the Ryazan region. Sasta makes pipe-threading machines, which the report says are exported and supplied to machine-building plants in Russia. Citing the independent Telegram channel Astra, Meduza also reported that the plant provides a production base for defense enterprises and is on sanctions lists in several Western countries.
Chervonenkis was ranked 19th in the 2021 Top 500 list of the world’s supercomputers, Meduza reported. The outlet said it later fell into the second hundred of the rankings amid difficulties updating infrastructure because of sanctions. These rankings provide historical context only; they do not establish the machine’s current performance or condition after the fire.
The strike comes amid reported attacks on data centers in Ukraine. Meduza said that since September 23, facilities belonging to at least eight companies had been damaged or destroyed by Russian strikes, with some attacked more than once. Russia’s Defense Ministry said those centers processed and transmitted intelligence data for Ukraine’s armed forces. That statement is an official Russian claim; it does not establish the purpose of the Sasovo site or explain who targeted it.
“The roof of “one of the enterprises” caught fire after the Ukrainian attack.”
— Ryazan region authorities, as quoted by Meduza
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Damage and Target Remain Unconfirmed
Several key details remain unknown. Yandex has not reported the condition of Lyapunov or Chervonenkis, and no information in the source material confirms whether either supercomputer was physically damaged. It is also unclear how long the Sasovo center will remain offline, which services are affected, and when reported outages will end.
The intended target has not been established. Meduza reported that the strike hit the grounds of the Sasta plant, but neither that fact nor the presence of Yandex’s data center there confirms whether the plant, the data center or another site was targeted. Ukraine had not officially commented on the strike at the time of the report. The available account also does not provide a detailed public assessment from Yandex or Russian authorities of the fire’s cause and damage.
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Service Recovery and Damage Reports
The next developments to watch are a Yandex update on the facility and its supercomputers, and information on when the Sasovo center can resume operations. Updates from the company may clarify which products were affected and whether services have recovered, though no restoration timetable was available in the report.
Further statements from regional authorities or Ukraine could clarify the circumstances of the strike, but those details remain unconfirmed. Until the company assesses the site and releases more information, the operational and technical consequences should be treated as developing.
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Key Questions
What happened at the Yandex data center?
A Ukrainian drone attack started a fire at the Sasovo facility in Russia’s Ryazan region. Meduza reported that no one was injured and that the data center halted operations.
Which Yandex supercomputers are at the site?
The center houses Lyapunov and Chervonenkis, two of Yandex’s three supercomputers, which are used to train neural networks. The third system, Galushkin, is in Vladimir, according to Meduza.
Were the supercomputers damaged?
That is not yet known. The report said Yandex had not disclosed the machines’ condition after the strike.
Which services have reported problems?
Yandex warned that some services might be unavailable. Meduza reported user complaints involving Yandex services, including Yandex Cloud, Disk and Documents, as well as outages at several other websites. The complete scope and duration were unclear.
Is it clear what the strike was intended to hit?
No. The strike hit the grounds of the Sasta machine-tool plant, where the Yandex data center occupies part of a former premises. The intended target has not been confirmed, and Ukraine had not officially commented in the report.
Source: rss
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