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Key developments: Ukrainian drones hit three major Yandex data centres in Ryazan, Kaluga and Vladimir between Oct. 8‑11, damaging infrastructure and forcing the Vladimir site offline. Cloudflare monitoring shows automated traffic from Yandex’s network fell to just 0.4% of its recent peak – a roughly 99% drop in bot activity.
Why it matters: Yandex powers most Russian online services, and its bots have been a backbone of Moscow’s influence campaigns, previously estimated to generate 21‑29% of internet traffic. The sharp reduction could blunt Russian disinformation reach and signals a new front in the cyber‑war, with social media feeds becoming noticeably quieter, as President Zelensky noted.
What to watch next: Analysts will track whether Yandex can restore its data‑centre capacity and if bot traffic rebounds, while Western observers monitor any corresponding shift in Russian online propaganda. Further Ukrainian targeting of Russian tech infrastructure and potential retaliatory cyber strikes are also likely as the digital battle intensifies. [[1, 2, 3]]