Following Ukrainian drone strikes against Yandex, Russia’s major technology company, charts circulated on social media suggesting a significant drop in bot activity originating from Russian servers. However, analysts have questioned the accuracy of these claims and their interpretation.
According to antibot4navalny, a researcher known for investigating troll operations, the Cloudflare data being cited actually measures automated web crawlers operated by Yandex rather than coordinated disinformation campaigns. These bots serve multiple purposes including website indexing for search engines, customer service support, and account verification, though they can also be used for malicious purposes like spam and hacking. The data specifically tracks Yandex-based traffic and does not represent broader Russian bot activity across the internet, which Cloudflare indicates remained largely stable following the attacks.
Additional charts claiming to show declining Russian disinformation activity, including one shared by European Parliament member Tomáš Zdechovský alleging reduced online activity related to Germany’s far-right AfD party, have drawn skepticism from computer scientist Raphael Wimmer. Wimmer suggested the diagram appears to be artificially generated, citing inconsistencies such as data points registered for October 15th. The image’s original source remains unverified, and the user who first posted it has not provided clarification regarding its origins.
Meanwhile, Yandex services including its digital payment platform remained offline following the latest strike. The company’s Fintech division indicated it could not provide a specific timeline for restoration but committed to resuming operations as quickly as possible, with users currently unable to complete transactions or access financial information through the service.
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