Did Ukrainian strikes on Russian datacentres reduce online disinformation? Experts say evidence falls short

What happened

The Guardian Ukraine reports that over the weekend, Ukraine conducted at least three airstrikes on datacentres operated by Russian search engine Yandex, causing significant damage and affecting multiple Russian websites and services. Telegram footage showed at least one datacentre on fire, and Yandex itself acknowledged the strikes and disruptions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed these operations had reduced the spread of Russian disinformation online, saying the online environment had become less hostile and divisive.

Outside Brief is treating this as a source-led account. Any disputed responsibility, casualty figure, battlefield claim or single-source assertion should be treated as unconfirmed/hearsay unless confirmed by another reliable source or a named official. However, experts consulted by The Guardian cast doubt on Zelenskyy’s assertion. Amil Khan, CEO of Valent, a company tracking global disinformation networks, stated there was no observable decrease in postings from Russian disinformation networks since the strikes. Khan explained that Yandex datacentres are not directly linked to the social media bot farms responsible for much of the Kremlin’s disinformation efforts.

Data from Cloudflare shows a sharp decline in bot activity associated with Yandex’s network around the strike dates, but experts clarify this relates to automated web requests from Yandex’s web crawlers indexing sites, rather than social media disinformation bots. Michał ‘Rysiek’ Woźniak, an internet infrastructure expert, noted this differentiation, emphasizing that the term ‘bot’ covers a range of automated software often misunderstood in public discussion.

Known from the source

• Ukraine carried out at least three airstrikes on Russian Yandex datacentres over a weekend.
• At least two datacentres suffered significant damage; footage showed one on fire.
• Yandex acknowledged the strikes and reported affected services.
• President Zelenskyy claimed the strikes reduced Russian disinformation on social platforms.
• Cloudflare data showed a decline in bot traffic from Yandex network during strike dates.

What remains unclear

Ned Mendez of Alliance4Europe observed that disinformation bot networks are highly distributed, relying on residential and mobile connections rather than centralized datacentres, so strikes on physical infrastructure may have only indirect effects. Efforts to disrupt Kremlin-linked disinformation might better focus on targeting personnel networks or pressuring social media platforms to moderate content, though such strategies face political obstacles.

What remains unclear: Confirm whether the central claim is corroborated; until then treat it as unconfirmed/hearsay. Extent and permanence of damage to Yandex datacentres and services. Current activity levels of Russian disinformation networks following the strikes. Verification of Zelenskyy’s claim about reduced hate and division on social media platforms.

Evidence note

This story contains report-led claims. The article keeps those claims attributed and treats them as unconfirmed/hearsay unless independently corroborated.

Original source: The Guardian Ukraine. Open the source.