Russia's Yandex will need six months to replace drone-damaged equipment
The Russian company Yandex will need at least six months to replace the damaged infrastructure of three data centres that came under drone attacks between 8 and 11 October.
Source: Russian media outlet The Insider
Details: Yandex will have to procure new equipment through multiple sources, including abroad, to offset the losses more quickly.
Obtaining a significant volume of server equipment before the end of 2026 is virtually impossible, IT market participants commented to the Russian publication Kommersant. They expect that increased demand from cloud providers will lead to an additional rise in server prices as early as the fourth quarter.
Yandex acknowledged that it cannot yet state a timeline for the repair of the infrastructure.
Market participants also expect prices for server equipment and cloud services to increase due to a deficit in computing capacity and the costs associated with protecting against new attacks.
The Insider discovered that certain Yandex Cloud services have already grown in price by more than 16.6% following two tariff hikes in 2025-2026.
Other data centre operators have begun procuring anti-drone protective equipment. Some are already modernising protection systems for external engineering infrastructure. These costs will subsequently be reflected in the price of cloud services for customers.
The specific estimates for the future tariff increases operators have not yet provided.
The previous price increase occurred on 1 May 2025, affecting the majority of cloud services. At that time, the company raised tariffs by 8%, also due to the rising cost of equipment and other expenses.
By comparing the data published by the company over two years, The Insider calculated that the cumulative tariff increase for individual cloud services reached 16.6%.
As of 12 October, Yandex has still failed to restore normal operation of its cloud platform following three drone attacks.
Yandex Cloud is still operating in emergency mode, with engineers working around the clock to restore the infrastructure. Clients continue to be advised to use alternative sites for data hosting and backup.
The company also warned of delays in technical support operations due to a high volume of inquiries. Meanwhile, Yandex provided no new details regarding the availability of individual cloud services.
Disruptions continue to affect users of a number of services as well. In particular, Yandex Pay clients complain about being unable to transfer or withdraw money, while taxi drivers and couriers are unable to withdraw their earnings. Some buyers have encountered difficulties when attempting to request refunds for concert tickets via Intickets, as confirmation codes fail to arrive at Yandex Mail.
Background:
- On 8 October a fire broke out at the Sasta plant in Sasovo, Russia's Ryazan Oblast, where a data centre operated by Yandex DC is located and which is important to Russia's defence industry. Telegram channels have reported an attack on the plant.
- The press service for Yandex reported that the data centre in Sasovo completely ceased operations following a drone attack.
- On 9 October, the Russian company Yandex reported a new attack on a data centre in Kaluga.
- On 11 October, the Russian company reported that its data centre in the Russian city of Vladimir has ceased operations following a drone attack.
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