Last week, the Ukrainian military carried out strikes on Yandex’s data center, one of the largest in Russia, located in eastern Moscow, and it has led to quite an interesting effect on social media, or at least that is what some reports are indicating.
A number of social media figures have noticed a significant drop in bots on platforms like X, particularly those promoting Hamas, criticizing Israel, amplifying Germany’s far-right AfD, and spreading pro-Russian narratives about Ukraine. There has also been a reported decline in accounts posing as pro-Trump or MAGA while working to sow division among conservatives, accounts that often supply faux conservatives like Tucker Carlson with much of their audience.
Funny thing: Ukraine takes out Russian data centers and “Zelensky” rises while “genocide” and “Free Palestine” drops off according to X’s Radar analytics page. Anyone else seeing trends w/🇷🇺 bots muzzled? https://t.co/d0DrgX0JQ4
— Ohio Rob (@TheOhioRob) October 11, 2026
BREAKING: Following Ukraine striking a Russian data center, mentions of “Genocide” and “Free Palestine” have plummeted on X. This entire movement is one massive psyop. https://t.co/fKTHy3neMf
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) October 12, 2026
In particular, many will be happy to know that the former Fox News host’s views dropped by about 71 percent, according to conservative podcaster Matt Tardio, while views for the Tucker Carlson Network more broadly fell by 34 percent.
Following Ukrainian strikes on Russian data centers: Tucker Carlson's views dropped 71% Douglas Macgregor's views dropped 62% TCN views dropped 34% https://t.co/ekkReqo33O
— Matt Tardio (@angertab) October 13, 2026
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While the reports remain unconfirmed by independent sources, they track closely with what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference in February.
"When we started responding to Russia's operation against our data centers, and when our strikes reached Yandex data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breach on many social media platforms," the Ukrainian president said in an interview at the conference. "A lot of people, a lot of people noticed it. And there was less hate, less division, and fewer provocations, because there were fewer bots. And it's pretty clear where those bots were coming from."
"And if they disappeared when Yandex went offline, this proves again and again that Europe is not the source of the problems," he added. "Europe is not the one making everything more difficult. Most importantly, we need people in America every morning, when the day in Europe is already moving toward evening, to really see what is happening, to see the truth."
When we started responding to Russia’s operation against our data centers, and when our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms. A lot of people noticed it. There was less hate, less division, and fewer provocations. Because there were fewer bots. And it’s pretty clear where those bots were coming from – if they disappeared when Yandex went offline. This proves, again and again, that Europe is not the source of the problems. Europe is not the one making everything more difficult. Most importantly, we need people in America, every morning, when the day in Europe is already moving toward evening, to really see what is happening. To see the truth. From a speech at the Warsaw Security Forum. (3/3)
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 12, 2026
Zelensky has long been eager to convince Americans that Russia’s influence campaign is real, and the apparent drop in bot activity gives his argument more credibility.
Still, the reported drop in bots on social media makes one thing clear: Russia is not America’s friend. A quieter internet, with fewer accounts inflaming division and distorting the political conversation, would be a welcome change, and some commentators are hopeful that the disruption to Russian influence operations could give Republicans a fairer shot in the midterm elections.
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