Decoded: Why Are Data Centers Modern War Targets? Ukraine attacks Yandex, Russia attacks Kiev servers, Iran attacks AWS

Data centers are becoming important targets in modern warfare as attacks in Russia and the Middle East show how damage to digital infrastructure can disrupt essential services and complicate countries’ efforts to develop artificial intelligence (AI).

Ukrainian attacks on facilities belonging to the Russian technology company Yandex and Iranian attacks on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure in the Persian Gulf have highlighted the consequences of placing large amounts of computing capacity in vulnerable locations. The incidents also raise questions about how governments and technology companies can keep critical digital services running during armed conflict.

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Connor Martin, an expert on the national security implications of cross-border capital flows and the risks posed by border technologies such as artificial intelligence, explores the implications of this vulnerability.

Ukrainian attacks on Yandex disrupt Russian digital services

Ukrainian drones struck three Yandex data centers in October, according to reports, in retaliation for Russian attacks on Ukrainian facilities. Yandex, often referred to as Russia’s Google, provides internet and cloud services used across the country.

The strikes disrupted services including email, payments and navigation, illustrating the economic and practical consequences when widely used digital infrastructure becomes a military target.

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Three Yandex supercomputers equipped with US-designed Nvidia A100 processors were also housed in the affected facilities. Access to advanced semiconductors has been a challenge for Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, making it difficult to replace specialized computing equipment.

Ukraine subsequently struck another data center under construction for Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, according to reports.

The attacks come as Russia faces broader obstacles to AI development, including restrictions on advanced chips and the loss of skilled engineers. Damage to computing equipment could exacerbate these problems, although its long-term impact on Russia’s AI capabilities remains uncertain.

Iran’s strikes on AWS highlight risks beyond the battlefield

The consequences of attacks on data centers were also visible in the Middle East. In March 2026, Iranian drones struck two AWS facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and damaged another in Bahrain.

The strikes damaged equipment, disrupted power supplies and triggered fire suppression systems, causing further water damage.

In September, AWS said it was “unable to restore access to resources and data” hosted exclusively on the two affected facilities. The company also said that “most customers were able to restore their operations in other regions by restoring backups or copying data that remained available.”

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The incident highlighted the difference between restoring a service and restoring the information it contains. Businesses with backups available may be able to restore operations elsewhere, while data stored only on the damaged device may remain inaccessible.

AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and Google operate data center infrastructure in the Middle East, where renewed hostilities could threaten the facilities and undersea cables that connect them.

Why is it difficult to defend data centers?

Unlike mobile military installations, data centers are fixed installations that require reliable electricity, cooling systems, and high-capacity communications networks. Their location is shaped by these requirements, making rapid relocation difficult.

Their scale presents another challenge. Conventional data centers can occupy around 100,000 square feet, while facilities built for advanced AI computing can be considerably larger.

It also depends on several cooperating systems. Damage to the power distribution or cooling equipment can put the facility out of service, even if its servers remain intact. Repairs can take time, especially if replacement parts are expensive or hard to come by.

These characteristics have led security experts to consider data centers not just commercial real estate, but infrastructure with potential strategic importance during conflict.

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Existing physical security standards largely focus on intrusion and unauthorized access rather than air strikes during armed conflict.

Can cloud companies prevent outages during war?

Total protection against military attacks is difficult, so recovery plans are essential. Companies can reduce their reliance on individual devices by maintaining backups, spreading workloads, and ensuring critical information remains available from alternate locations.

Ukrainian providers reportedly used servers in the European Union (EU) to back up information. Russia’s strict data localization requirements may limit comparable options for companies operating there.

Governments face a related policy issue: rules requiring information to remain within national borders may support regulatory goals, but may also limit recovery options if domestic infrastructure is damaged.

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Edge computing, which distributes certain processing tasks among smaller devices closer to users, offers another way to reduce dependence on centralized locations. However, it cannot replace the large computing clusters needed to train advanced artificial intelligence systems.

Companies are also exploring underground facilities and data centers in space, although these approaches face significant technical and commercial hurdles.