Kazakhstan's Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development has explained disruptions to some Yandex services in the country after an attack on the company's servers in Russia. In a press release, the ministry responded to complaints from Kazakh users who argued that servers supporting the company's products on the .kz domain should be located inside the country.
The ministry said that servers storing the personal data of Kazakh users are located in Kazakhstan and operating normally. However, it noted that this does not mean all of Yandex's infrastructure is based in the country.
«Certain components needed to provide taxi and delivery services are located outside Kazakhstan,» the Digital Ministry explained.
Yandex is currently carrying out recovery work. The ministry is coordinating with the company and Kazakh infrastructure organizations to provide the necessary support.
«Together with other taxi and delivery platforms, work is under way to ensure their resilience amid increased demand,» the ministry added.
In December 2023, the Digital Ministry's press service reported that Yandex had placed servers in Kazakhstan, as required by local law. «Now yandex.kz will operate on servers located inside the country,» the ministry said at the time.
On Oct. 11, a drone damaged the infrastructure of a Yandex data center in Vladimir, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) from Moscow. The facility's operations were completely halted. It was the third strike on Yandex data centers in Russia in a week. Overnight on Oct. 8, a drone damaged a data center in Sasovo, in the Ryazan region, and on Oct. 9, the company reported an attack on a facility in the Kaluga region.
The damage to equipment disrupted the company's services in Russia and several other countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Residents complained of problems ordering taxis and food and grocery deliveries.
