Ukraine targets Yandex to disrupt Russian military and civilian life

Ukraine has launched a series of attacks against Yandex, Russia's largest tech company, disrupting services used by millions of civilians, including payment systems, taxi apps, and digital locks. The strikes have affected three of six Yandex facilities in recent weeks. The attacks have caused employees to lose access to work files, disabled email systems, and locked Moscow residents out of their apartments due to Yandex-dependent locks. Ukraine's goal is to target infrastructure supporting Russian military operations, as Yandex provides cloud services and supercomputers to the armed forces. Jakob Hedenskog of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs notes that civilian disruption is a side effect Ukraine views positively, as it makes ordinary Russians feel the war's impact. The attacks follow strikes on Russian fuel facilities and Sberbank, though Ukraine's long-range operations may face challenges if US intelligence sharing diminishes.