Ukrainian drones reportedly hit Sberbank data center in Russia

On October 14, Ukrainian drones reportedly targeted a data center in construction for Russian state lender Sberbank in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, according to deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin. The attack occurred in the morning, as reported by Russian state news agency TASS. Saratov regional governor Roman Busargin confirmed the attack to TASS, stating that the bank's systems and services remained operational, with no injuries among employees.

Busargin also affirmed that all infrastructure facilities functioned normally. However, Russian users reported disruptions to Sberbank's online services, including its AI service GigaChat, according to the independent Moscow Times.

Russian authorities announced the construction of the facility in 2020, estimating it to cover around 60,000 square meters (645,800 square feet). The bank aimed to house a new supercomputer worth 500 billion rubles. Ukrainian defense company Fire Point commented on social media, playfully suggesting the attack on Yandex would not stop there, following reported damage to another data center causing service disruptions.

Yandex's data center in Vladimir Oblast went offline entirely after a drone attack on October 11, as reported by TASS. This attack marked the third on a Yandex data center in four days, following strikes in Ryazan and Kaluga oblasts on October 8 and 9. On October 11, Yandex Cloud reported power issues in an availability zone located at the company's data center in Vladimir.

Sberbank remains heavily sanctioned by Western nations, severed from the SWIFT international payment messaging network. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the strike.