Physical strikes on Sasovo, Kaluga, Vladimir disrupt Yandex Disk; users face access instability
Physical attacks on Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir facilities disrupt Yandex Disk and Cloud services, prompting warnings about data access and stability.
Key points
- Drone attacks damaged three Yandex data centers in Russia, halting operations at two sites and partially disabling a third.
- Yandex Cloud services, including storage and compute, are running in emergency mode with unstable performance and limited support.
- Users report missing thumbnails and download failures, though permanent data loss has not been confirmed by the vendor.
Yandex confirmed that drone strikes on October 7, 9 and 11 damaged three data centers in Russia, according to Cyber Security News. The attacks hit facilities in Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir. Two sites stopped operating entirely, while the third lost part of its infrastructure. This physical disruption affects Yandex Disk users and businesses relying on Yandex Cloud platforms.
What services are impacted?
Yandex Cloud reported that its console, API, identity management, container registry, databases, S3 storage and Kubernetes remained available but suffered performance or availability issues. Compute, AI Studio and security services were only partly available. Monium remained offline. Yandex described the remaining cloud resources as unstable and stated the platform was operating in emergency mode, according to Cyber Security News.
Is customer data permanently lost?
Some Yandex Disk customers experienced missing thumbnails and failed downloads starting October 8, with reports of HTTP 302, 504 and 500 errors, according to Cyber Security News. These failures indicate that stored content could not be retrieved through normal service requests. However, failed downloads do not prove files were deleted. Yandex had not addressed whether any customer data was permanently lost in status updates cited by BleepingComputer.
What is the restoration timeline?
Yandex stated that engineers worked day and night to maintain services, but assessing equipment remained difficult due to the physical damage. The company could not provide a reliable restoration timeline. Emergency teams and specialists were working at the damaged sites. Yandex urged customers to use alternative disaster recovery plans and warned that technical support channels might also be unstable, according to Cyber Security News.
Questions to ask your suppliers
Operations teams should verify if the supplier has confirmed the integrity of stored data following physical infrastructure damage. Check whether the supplier’s disaster recovery protocols were triggered and if secondary sites are fully operational. Determine if the supplier’s support channels are functional for critical incident response. Inform risk management and legal teams about potential service level agreement breaches and data availability gaps. Establish clear communication lines with the supplier’s account management to receive updates on restoration efforts and data integrity assessments.
Background: Disaster recovery plans
Disaster recovery plans provide a structured method to restore systems after catastrophic failure. They reduce downtime and ensure business continuity. However, they do not stop attacks, require significant testing, and may fail if backups are compromised. Success depends on regular validation and air-gapped storage.
Read the full guide: Disaster Recovery Plans: Benefits, Limits, and When to Build One
What to do and how to stay safe: Yandex Cloud
- Review your disaster recovery plans to ensure alternative data storage and processing methods are ready if primary cloud services remain unstable.
- Monitor technical support channels for official updates on service restoration and data integrity, acknowledging that support itself may be degraded.
- Verify the accessibility of critical business applications and stored files, noting that temporary errors may not indicate permanent data loss.
- Prepare internal communications for stakeholders regarding potential service disruptions and the status of data access and operational continuity.
General security guidance from the TechSec Feed newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
Did the drone attacks cause any injuries?
Yandex reported no injuries across the three incidents, according to Cyber Security News.
Which specific data centers were affected?
The Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir data centers in Russia were damaged by drone attacks, according to Cyber Security News.
Are Yandex Cloud services currently stable?
Yandex described its remaining cloud resources as unstable and operating in emergency mode, according to Cyber Security News.
