Ukrainian drones hit VK data center and Ozon warehouse near St. Petersburg

Drones strike VK data center and Ozon warehouse

Overnight strikes on October 17-18 hit one of VK's data centers in Novosergievka in the Leningrad region and an Ozon fulfillment center in St. Petersburg's Kolpino district, one of the retailer's largest logistics sites in northwestern Russia. VK, one of Russia's largest technology companies, said its services were operating normally, although users reported connection problems and outages. It remains unclear whether those disruptions were linked to the attack on the data center or to damage at a nearby electrical substation reported by Astra's investigators.

Ozon confirmed that the attack caused a fire at its facility on Sofiyskaya Street in Kolpino. According to St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov, the same overnight campaign also set fire to the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city's Ruchi oil depot.

Power outages and casualties

The attacks damaged electrical distribution infrastructure in the Leningrad region, and emergency power cuts left roughly 20,000 residents without electricity. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 1,015 Ukrainian drones overnight, while TASS, citing local authorities, described the strike as the largest on the region in four years. The attacks killed at least one person and injured several others, according to local officials.

The strikes follow a series of drone attacks on Russian tech infrastructure. Last week, Yandex said its data center in the Vladimir region was forced to shut down after a drone strike, the third such incident at the company's facilities in four days. No casualties were reported in that case.

Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine's energy grid

On October 16-17, Russia launched a large overnight attack on Ukraine, targeting more than 15 energy facilities and causing power and water disruptions in several regions. The strikes killed seven people and injured at least 90.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 18 that Russia had deliberately attacked Ukraine's energy and oil and gas sectors 76 times since the American President announced an energy ceasefire a week earlier. According to Zelensky, Russia attacked Ukraine over the past week with almost 2,700 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs and 66 missiles, most of them ballistic, with energy facilities as the main targets.

Sources: Cybernews