Russia’s AI Ambitions Take a Hit With Ukrainian Data Center Strikes

Ukrainian drone strikes on data centres run by Sber and Yandex have added to existing obstacles for Russia’s AI industry. The affected sites represented about 11% of national data centre capacity; although most services have returned, full repairs could take up to six months. The disruption matters because the Kremlin sees AI as a way to raise productivity and counter labour shortages, and has made building sovereign AI infrastructure a priority.

Yandex said it had restored access to about 97% of affected cloud customer data, while the remaining 3% was permanently lost. Russia’s expansion is also constrained by limited electricity in Moscow and St Petersburg, which host around 80% of its data centres, sanctions affecting equipment imports and a lack of advanced processors. The country faces an estimated annual shortfall of up to 300 megawatts in new data centre capacity; building facilities underground could cost 40% more, while moving them inland brings network and staffing difficulties.