Russian Courts Paralyzed by Yandex Cloud Outages After Drone Attacks – Vyorstka

Oct. 16, 2026 Moskva News Agency Russian arbitration courts have been forced to postpone hearings and freeze legal filings following widespread system failures caused by Ukrainian drone attacks on Yandex data centers, exiled outlet Vyorstka reported Friday. The technical disruptions reportedly began on Oct. 8 after a Ukrainian drone attack damaged the first of three Yandex data centers in Russia. According to Vyorstka, the outages disabled online video hearings, froze official audio recordings and prevented judges from opening or downloading case files submitted by the parties. Judges were reportedly forced to put cases on hold, declare trial breaks or leave bankruptcy filings frozen. Court rulings directly cited server failures at Yandex Cloud as the reason for legal proceedings. “Difficulties operating the ‘Electronic Justice’ software package are observed on Oct. 14 due to a massive failure in the Yandex Cloud main data center,” states one judicial order by a regional court shared by the outlet. Similar outages were recorded across at least nine Russian regions, Vyorstka reported. PravoTech, the software provider behind Russia’s arbitration court databases, acknowledged the service degradation in an Oct. 8 post. On Monday, it said basic search features had been restored, but warned that services were still slow due to the cloud provider’s ongoing issues. The court system failure reflects a wider wave of digital disruptions across Russia following Ukrainian drone attacks on three of Yandex’s six data centers. Search navigation, online banking, food delivery and major retail chains using Yandex Cloud services were still affected. Key Yandex services did not appear to be fully restored as of Friday evening, as the Kremlin sought to play down the attacks’ effects. Read more about: Yandex , Court cases Sign up for our free weekly newsletter Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy We sent a confirmation to your email. Please confirm your subscription. A Message from The Moscow Times: Dear readers, We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia. We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help. Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact. By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us. Once Monthly Annual Continue Not ready to support today? Remind me later. × Remind me next month Remind me Thank you! Your reminder is set. We will send you one reminder email a month from now. For details on the personal data we collect and how it is used, please see our Privacy Policy. Read more Prosecutors Request Additional 4-Year Prison Sentence for Mother of Chechen Dissidents State prosecutors claim that Zarema Musaeva, who suffers from diabetes, scratched the neck of a prison bailiff during a hospital visit. 2 Min read Black Sea Oil Spill: Russian Authorities Say Tanker Captain Lacked Valid Certification Transportation officials said the captain’s certification for piloting ships had lapsed “several days” before the Black Sea oil spill in December... 2 Min read Plagiarism Campaigner Zayakin Jailed 5 Years in Absentia for Navalny Donation Dissernet co-founder Dmitry Zayakin is believed to have fled Russia in October 2022 after he was arrested and charged with “financing extremist activities... 1 Min read British Taxi Service Goes Head to Head With Uber in Russia Splyt, a British ride-sharing app, has opened an office in Moscow. They hope to coordinate an alliance of local taxi services, possibly undermining giants...