# Ukrainian drones strike Yandex data center hosting two AI supercomputers

> The attack forced Yandex to shut down its Sasovo facility, putting services on Yandex Cloud offline and raising questions about the fate of two AI‑focused supercomputers.

Oossa · 2026-10-08 · https://oossa.com/en/ukrainian-drones-strike-yandex-data-center-hosting-two-ai-supercomputers

Ukrainian drones hit Yandex’s data center in Sasovo, Russia, on a recent day this month. The strike caused a large fire and forced the company to shut down the site, according to Reuters and Meduza. The outage knocked Yandex Cloud services offline for many users.

## What was inside the hit facility?

The Sasovo center is one of Yandex’s five major data hubs. It holds tens of thousands of servers and two Nvidia A100‑based supercomputers called Chervonenkis and Lyapunov. Both machines are used to train Yandex’s AI models, including YandexGPT, Russia’s leading large language model.

## How powerful were the machines?

Chervonenkis was once listed as the world’s 19th most powerful supercomputer in the Top 500 ranking in 2021. Its peak performance of 21.53 FP64 petaflops (PFLOPS) would place it around 101st today. Western sanctions have prevented Yandex from upgrading the system.

## The facts

- Ukrainian drones hit Yandex’s Sasovo data center, causing a fire and a shutdown of the facility.
- The site houses two Nvidia A100‑based supercomputers named Chervonenkis and Lyapunov.
- Chervonenkis was ranked 19th in the Top 500 list in 2021; its 21.53 FP64 PFLOPS would rank about 101st by current standards.
- Both supercomputers have been used to train YandexGPT, Russia’s leading large language model.
- Yandex’s third supercomputer, Galushkin, is located in Vladimir, not affected by the attack.

## Why it matters

The shutdown means Yandex Cloud services are currently unavailable for businesses and developers relying on them. It also highlights how geopolitical conflict can interrupt AI research infrastructure, leaving the future of the two supercomputers uncertain.

## Sources & references

1. [Ukrainian drones hit Russia's Yandex data centers housing two top supercomputers](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/ukrainian-drones-hit-russias-yandex-data-centers-housing-two-top-supercomputers-major-outage-follows-retaliatory-strike) – Tom's Hardware, 2026-10-08

Last updated: 2026-10-08