The Ukrainian Armed Forces Are Striking At Russia's Digital Rear

Yandex services for the military and Kremlin bot farms are under threat.

This week, new details emerged regarding the consequences of the strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Yandex data centers, which disrupted the operation of key services provided by the Russian IT giant. How might the destruction of this infrastructure affect Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine?

Ukrainian military and political analyst from the group interview with the website Charter97.org, Ukrainian military and political analyst Alexander Kovalenko of the “Information Resistance” group stated:

— Russia will continue this war regardless. However, it will have limited access to cartographic and geolocation data, geolocation services, and other services that were previously provided to the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense.

We’re talking about software and various utilities. In addition, Yandex has developed a whole range of artificial intelligence modules that are used in Russian drones, particularly in the “Geran-4 Seeker.” The autopilot, target acquisition, and artificial intelligence systems in these drones are built specifically on the basis of Yandex modules.

Consequently, a number of services that Yandex provided to the Russian military are now in question. This will, of course, negatively impact the Russian military’s ability to effectively use the necessary utilities and software. The Russian military will either lose access to these products entirely or be forced to use outdated and incomplete versions of them.

— Following the strikes, the activity of Kremlin trolls has dropped sharply. This was noticed in many countries, including Israel. What consequences might this have for Russian propaganda?

— First and foremost, this will affect the presence of Russian propaganda in countries that are priorities for the Kremlin, especially in the run-up to the U.S. elections. Everyone knows full well that Russia constantly interferes in U.S. elections using information technology, bots, and social media. This has already become commonplace.

Now this influence will diminish. Of course, it will persist. Russian entities will attempt to restore the activity of their bot farms and use every available means to regain their former reach.

But if the attacks on the data centers of Yandex and other Russian IT monopolies continue, I think the influence and presence of Russian propaganda in the Western information space can be minimized.

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