Yandex says drone hit Russia data centre

Yandex said a drone attack caused a fire at its data centre in Sasovo, in Russia's Ryazan region, stopping the facility's operations and potentially affecting some of its services.

A Yandex spokesperson said there were no casualties and emergency services were dealing with the aftermath. The company did not specify the origin of the drone.

Ryazan regional governor Pavel Malkov said two Ukrainian drones had been shot down over the region overnight and that the roof of a business caught fire in the Sasovo area. Sasovo is about 300 kilometres east of Moscow.

Andriy Kovalenko, the former head of Ukraine's official Center for Countering Disinformation, said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces struck the Yandex data centre.

Yandex is Russia's largest technology company and runs the country's most popular search engine, as well as food-ordering and taxi services. Downdetector Russia showed a spike in user complaints beginning early Thursday.