Traffic from Russia's Yandex network to Estonian websites has fallen nearly 100 percent following Ukrainian strikes on the internet company's data centers.
The Information System Authority (RIA) says average requests from Yandex fell roughly 420 times by October 13 compared with September's average, following strikes last week. RIA puts the overall drop in Yandex traffic to Estonian sites at 99.8 percent.
Ukraine struck three Yandex data centers last week — one near Moscow on Sunday, one in Sasovo on Thursday and one in Kaluga on Friday.
"The average number of queries coming from the Yandex network has decreased by 99.8 percent, or roughly 420 times, compared with the September average, as of October 13," said Simon Berner, an analyst at RIA's analysis and prevention department.
Yandex was forced to suspend operations at the data center near Moscow on Sunday after the facility was damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike.
Foreign media has reported that the strikes on Yandex also dealt a blow to the Kremlin's online influence operations, including via bot activity in English, which often takes a far-right perspective.
RIA says, however, that it is too early to assess possible changes in the activity of cyberattacks carried out by Russia.
"At the same time, there is no reason to assume that disruptions to Yandex data centers would have a significant effect on the frequency of cyberattacks directed against Estonia. Various infrastructures are used to carry out attacks, and these do not depend on the functioning of Yandex services," Berner said.
Monitoring Russia's influence activities, including the activity of social media bots and troll accounts, does not fall within RIA's competence, so the authority cannot confirm or refute claims that their activity has decreased.
Yandex also operates food delivery and taxi apps used by tens of millions of people; it has previously said its data centers are essential to the normal functioning of its services.
Yandex taxi services in Estonia were banned shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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