Ukraine showed Trump how easily an enemy could cripple an AI powerhouse
Ukraine disabled or disrupted three major Yandex data centres in Russia within four days, highlighting how attacks on physical infrastructure can interrupt AI services without targeting their software. The article argues that the strikes should prompt the Trump administration to assess whether critical American computing facilities could withstand similar attacks.
Yandex said its Sasovo centre, which housed two of its three AI-training supercomputers, might not be restorable; strikes also affected facilities in Kaluga and the Vladimir region. The article notes that data centres depend on electricity, cooling and communications, and points to the concentration of facilities in Virginia’s Loudoun and Prince William counties. A June 5 national security memorandum set a 120-day deadline for partnerships to protect advanced AI infrastructure, which had passed by October 3; the article calls for an account of what protections and recovery plans are in place.
- Ukraine disrupted three Yandex data centres in four days.
- The strikes exposed the physical dependencies of AI systems.
- The article urges a review of US data centre protection and recovery plans.
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Yandex is a Russian technology company whose services include search, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Training advanced AI systems requires powerful computers housed in data centres, which rely on steady electricity, cooling and communications.
The United States also hosts large clusters of data centres, including in Virginia’s Loudoun and Prince William counties. Their concentration means that damage to a small number of sites could affect computing capacity, though the extent would depend on what systems and backups were available elsewhere.
A June 2025 national security memorandum set a 120-day deadline for partnerships to protect advanced AI infrastructure. The issue matters because governments and businesses increasingly depend on AI computing, and disruptions could affect services as well as future development.
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The case for
The disruption of Yandex’s facilities shows that advanced computing depends on vulnerable physical systems as well as secure software. The United States should assess whether concentrated data centres, power and communications links can withstand attacks, and whether backup capacity and recovery plans are adequate; the missed deadline for the security partnerships makes public accountability especially pertinent. Protecting this infrastructure could help preserve essential services and national security.
The case against
The attacks on Russian facilities do not by themselves establish that US data centres face the same risks or that the current protections are inadequate. A rushed or highly public assessment could expose sensitive vulnerabilities, encourage costly measures with limited benefit, or divert resources from other security needs. Officials could reasonably prioritise a careful, classified review and strengthen resilience where evidence supports it, rather than treat the reported strikes as proof of an imminent threat.