Ukrainian Drone Strike Said to Damage Sberbank Facility in Saratov Region
Ukrainian drones reportedly struck a Sberbank data center under construction in Balakovo, in Russia's Saratov Oblast. A Sberbank deputy chief executive said operations continued and no staff were injured, but Russian users reported outages in online services, including GigaChat. The attack came after several recent strikes on Yandex data centers, and Ukraine's Fire Point hinted that more targets would follow.
The reported target was a Sberbank data center still being built in Balakovo in Saratov Oblast. Saratov's governor, Roman Busargin, said the region was hit by drones that morning. Deputy chief executive Alexander Vedyakhin told TASS that operations remained uninterrupted and employees escaped injury. Some Russian users nonetheless reported online service problems, including with GigaChat.
The facility was announced in 2020 and was expected to span roughly 60,000 square meters; Vedomosti reported plans for a new supercomputer there, valued at 500 billion rubles. The strike followed several reported attacks on Yandex data centers, including one in Vladimir Oblast that shut down, and Fire Point hinted more targets could follow. Ukrainian officials did not comment.
The reported strike may affect Russian bank customers and businesses relying on Sberbank's digital services, especially if outages recur. Employees at the construction site could face safety concerns, though no injuries were reported. Repeated attacks on data infrastructure may heighten public anxiety about online financial and