# Ukraine Drone Strike Misled About Bot Farms

> Ukraine’s drone strike on Yandex data centers falsely claimed to silence Russian bots.
- Title: Ukraine Drone Strike Misled About Bot Farms · Mother Jones
- Summary: Ukraine’s drone strike on Yandex data centers falsely claimed to silence Russian bots. ukraine, yandex, russian bots · reported by Mother Jones.
- Keywords: ukraine, yandex, russian bots, drone strike, maga, reform uk, afd, bot crawlers, disinformation, online activity, Drone, Strike
- Source: Mother Jones — https://motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/ukraine-drone-strike-yandex-russian-bot-farm-right-wing-maga-afd-reform-uk-conspiracy-theory-viral-rumor
- Author: Anna Merlan
- Published: 2026-10-13T13:07:16+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ukraine, yandex, russian bots, drone strike, maga, reform uk, afd, bot crawlers, disinformation, online activity
## Zelenskyy claims drone strike reduced bot activity
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said strikes on Yandex data centers decreased bot activity online, reducing hate and division.

> When our strikes reached Yandex’s data centers, it suddenly became a little easier to breathe on many social media platforms
## MAGA and AfD accounts reported less activity
Reports claimed MAGA, Reform UK, and AfD accounts saw reduced activity after the strike, with a 56 percent drop in AfD bot activity.

> So much talk about German patriotism…then the connection from Russia goes down
## Tech experts clarify bot confusion
Tech experts explained that the 'bots' taken offline were web crawlers, not online trolls, which are more resilient.

> It is used as shorthand for both web crawlers and online trolls. Web crawlers plummeting makes sense, but online trolls usually have more resilient infrastructure
## No drop in Russian troll activity
Antibot4Navalny found no dramatic drop in Kremlin-aligned human trolls targeting Russian users after the strike.

> We see no “dramatic drop” in traffic of Kremlin-aligned human trolls-for-hire targeting Russian domestic users
## Facebook activity unchanged
Valedmar Osted’s Facebook analysis showed AfD accounts increased by 8 percent and MAGA accounts by 10 percent after the strike.

> AfD after the strikes: −8% to +5%. MAGA: +4% to +10%
## Matroyshka network still active
Russian disinformation network Matroyshka remained active after the strike, despite claims of bot takedowns.

> Matroyshka is also the network that recently posted fake videos bearing Mother Jones’s name
## Public misperception of bot activity
A 2023 study found people overestimate bot prevalence and believe others are more vulnerable to bot influence than themselves.

> Participants tended to “overestimate the prevalence of bots and see others as more vulnerable to bot influence than themselves”
## Key takeaway

Ukraine’s drone strike on Yandex data centers did not stop Russian bot farms but caused temporary drops in bot activity.