# Bot test: Did a strike on a Russian data center throttle internet activity this weekend? > Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centers sparked claims of reduced social media bots but experts say the evidence is misleading. - Title: Bot test: Did a strike on a Russian data center throttle… - Summary: Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centers sparked claims of reduced social media bots but experts say the evidence is misleading. - Keywords: volodymyr zelenskyy, social media, yandex, cloudflare, bot traffic, ukrainian strikes, data centers, news, politics, world, Bot, test - Source: Straight Arrow — https://san.com/cc/bot-test-did-a-strike-on-a-russian-data-center-throttle-internet-activity-this-weekend - Published: 2026-10-14T14:47:11+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: volodymyr zelenskyy, social media, yandex, cloudflare, bot traffic, ukrainian strikes, data centers, news, politics, world ## Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said strikes on Yandex data centers made social media platforms easier to use this week. > When our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms ## Viral Cloudflare chart shows bot traffic drop A Cloudflare chart appeared to show a sharp decline in Yandex bot traffic after the data center strikes. > The red area in the chart above shows the period of time after the data centers were hit, with a clear decline in activity from their servers ## Threads users test bot activity Threads users posted controversial 'bot tests' to see if replies would flood, but engagement was slower than usual. > Bot test: SHE-HULK ATTORNEY AT LAW WAS VERY GOOD AND FUNNY ## X posts receive less engagement Some X users reported Elon Musk’s posts received fewer comments than usual after the strikes. > Elon Musk’s posts on X received less positive engagement and fewer comments than usual ## Experts clarify bot traffic types Experts say the drop in Yandex traffic is likely search engine crawlers, not political or disinformation bots. > A great deal of the bot traffic we know to have been impacted is web crawlers ## Cloudflare traffic analysis Cloudflare shows 98.7% of Google requests are bots, similar to Yandex’s search engine traffic patterns. > A comparable Cloudflare traffic analysis of Google shows that 98.7% of its requests seem to be bots ## Valent identifies malicious bots Valent checks posting patterns, breaks, and reposting to identify malicious bot networks. > Valent checks posting patterns, whether the bot appears to take breaks or sleep at regular, human-like intervals and how frequently an account posts ## No drop in far-right Facebook activity A Danish consultant found no decrease in engagement on far-right Facebook pages after the strikes. > An analysis of over 200 far-right and right wing Facebook pages did not show a decrease in engagement or commenting ## Russian bots use global services Experts say Russian bot networks likely use international data services, not Yandex, for their operations. > There is every reason to believe that Russian propaganda efforts, certainly those targeting the West, would use global systems, and not Yandex ## Historical bot network example Two years ago, strikes on Iranian internet infrastructure silenced a Scottish independence bot network on X. > The researchers estimated that that network accounted for at least 4% of discourse on X surrounding Scottish independence in early 2024 ## Polish scientist spreads misinformation A Polish political scientist deleted a viral post after realizing it was AI-generated and spread misinformation. > He deleted the post on Tuesday, and apologized on X for spreading misinformation; it turned out the original graph he shared had been AI-generated ## Thomas Theorem effect Believing fewer bots online may temporarily increase human engagement and reduce fake posts. > It is also conceivable that, because we believe it to be true, human engagement has risen and drowned out the bots temporarily ## Key takeaway Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centers did not significantly reduce social media bot activity as claimed by some users.