Full Breakdown
Ukrainian Drone Strikes Target Russia’s Leading AI Data Centres
By Drooid · · How we work
The October 14 Attack on Sberbank’s Balakovo Facility
On October 14, Ukrainian drones struck the Sberbank data-processing centre in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast. The site, owned by Russia’s largest bank, is under construction to become one of the country’s biggest data centres and will host the nation’s largest supercomputer in 2027. Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin confirmed the strike but said banking systems and online services continued operating. The attack came after UAV raids hit three Yandex data centres earlier in the week.
Background: Russia’s AI Ambitions and Prior Drone Hits
Russia’s AI work centres on Sberbank’s GigaChat model and Yandex’s YandexGPT, both requiring high-performance supercomputers. Western sanctions have limited access to the latest GPUs, a constraint Sberbank CEO German Gref noted on September 29. In the days before the Balakovo strike, Ukrainian drones disabled half of Yandex’s data-centre fleet: Ryazan (Oct 8), Kaluga (Oct 9) and Vladimir (Oct 11).
Data & Statistics
- Facility size: 55,000 sq m (? 592,000 sq ft); power capacity 82 MW.
- Construction cost: 122.2 billion rubles (? $1.4 bn).
- Supercomputer rankings: Sberbank’s “Christofari Neo” – 167th; Yandex’s “Chervonenkis” – 101st (both use Nvidia A100 GPUs).
- Drone activity: Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported 493 UAVs flew toward the Moscow region from Oct 13 night to Oct 14 morning, with 180 destroyed on approach and 20 shot down near the capital.
- Aviation impact: Flights at Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky were temporarily suspended; Vnukovo remained closed for more than eight hours.
- Casualties: Saratov Oblast Governor Roman Busargin said one woman was killed and several residential buildings were damaged in Balakovo.
Official Statements & Responses
- German Gref emphasized limited GPU access as a key hurdle for Russian AI.
- Governor Busargin said “all infrastructure facilities” continued operating while confirming the civilian death.
- The Russian Digital Development Ministry is consulting the military on additional protection for data-centre assets.
- Sobyanin announced the interception figures and noted emergency services responding to debris sites.
On-the-Ground Reports
Satellite fire monitoring detected multiple flames in Balakovo after the strike. Local eyewitnesses described explosions and a fire near the complex. Users of Sberbank’s GigaChat AI service reported intermittent disruptions, though no direct link to the drones was established. The nearby Balakovo nuclear power plant and Saratov hydroelectric plant were undamaged.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sberbank officials claim uninterrupted operation, while outage tracker Detector404 logged user-reported glitches. Neither Sberbank nor Yandex has confirmed whether the supercomputers at Balakovo or Yandex sites sustained physical damage, leaving the impact on Russia’s AI programme unclear.
Verbatim Quotes
- “I can't get anything to work at all” — Yevgeny
- “It's clear what difficulties we face when purchasing modern graphics processing units. Both we and Yandex suffer from this,” — Sberbank's CEO
- “Russian Defense Ministry air defense systems destroyed 20 UAVs flying toward Moscow. Emergency services specialists are working at the sites where debris fell,” — Sergey Sobyanin
What’s Next
Russian lawmakers have proposed moving critical data-centre hardware underground to shield it from future UAV attacks. The Digital Development Ministry is in talks with the armed forces to enhance protective measures for existing and under-construction facilities. No timeline has been announced.
