Yandex has included drone attacks, the use of missile weapons, and the consequences of other strikes in the list of force majeure circumstances that may exempt the company from liability for non-performance of obligations. The new version of the user agreement was published on October 10. The changes appeared against the backdrop of damage to several of the company's data centers as a result of UAV attacks.
The updated document lists not only military actions and terrorist acts, but also the consequences of the use, fall, launch, or activation of weapons, ammunition, aircraft, and other means of destruction. Separately mentioned are shelling, explosions, the impact of blast waves, mandatory evacuation, and major accidents at energy and communication facilities, if they occurred due to external reasons.
Yandex explained that they are not introducing a new legal mechanism, but rather unifying the terms of use for their services.
We are currently bringing these provisions into a unified form across all company services. The changes are clarifying in nature and do not alter existing legal mechanisms.
The agreement update coincided with a series of incidents at Yandex's infrastructure facilities. According to the company itself, on the night of October 7-8, a drone severely damaged a data center in Sasovo, whose operation was completely halted. On the morning of October 9, an attack affected a facility in Kaluga: part of the infrastructure went out of order. On October 11, damage to the infrastructure of a data center in Vladimir and power outages in one of the zones of the Yandex Cloud platform were also reported.
However, the inclusion of an attack in the list of force majeure circumstances does not mean automatic exemption from liability for any failure. The applicable terms of the contract and the connection between the extraordinary event and the impossibility of fulfilling a specific obligation are important. The company emphasizes that this is about clarifying existing legal provisions.