MOSCOW (Azat TV) – Ukrainian drones struck Sberbank’s major data center in Balakovo on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation in a series of attacks targeting critical digital infrastructure that underpins Moscow’s artificial intelligence capabilities. The strike on the Balakovo facility—owned by Russia’s largest bank and technology conglomerate—follows three recent drone attacks on data centers operated by its domestic rival Yandex over the past week.
Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin confirmed the incident to reporters, stating that the facility was targeted but maintaining that all bank systems and services continue to operate normally without disruption. Neither Sberbank nor Yandex has disclosed whether the high-performance supercomputers housed within the facilities, which are essential for training large AI models, sustained any damage during the strikes.
President Vladimir Putin held a previously unannounced meeting on Wednesday with top officials on “information security,” in which Sberbank CEO German Gref took part, though the Kremlin stated that the meeting was not linked to the attacks on the data centers.
Strategic Stakes for Domestic Artificial Intelligence
The targeted Balakovo data center was slated by Russian state media reports from 2024 to host the country’s largest upcoming supercomputer, scheduled to become operational in 2027. Both Sberbank and Yandex represent the twin pillars of Russia’s domestic artificial intelligence development, sharing the market between Sberbank’s GigaChat and YandexGPT models.
However, Russian tech giants already face severe operational bottlenecks due to Western sanctions that restrict direct access to advanced graphics processing units and specialized hardware. Speaking on September 29, Sberbank CEO German Gref noted that hardware procurement difficulties remain the primary reason Russia lags behind global leaders in the United States and China by up to nine months. Furthermore, senior executives have pointed out that Nvidia’s monopoly on the CUDA software platform poses an even greater structural hurdle than hardware acquisition alone.
Sberbank currently maintains two functioning supercomputers, the most advanced of which is called Christofari Neo, ranked 167th in the Top 500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers and located in Moscow based on Nvidia A100 chips. Meanwhile, Yandex’s most advanced Chervonenkis supercomputer is ranked 101st on the same list, though Yandex data centers hit earlier in the week hosted all three of that company’s operating supercomputers.
Official Response and Security Reassessments
In the wake of the drone strikes, Russian officials and industry leaders have initiated urgent discussions regarding the physical security of national computing assets. The Russian Digital Development Ministry announced it is currently holding talks with military authorities regarding enhanced defensive measures for major data processing centers.
Simultaneously, some Russian lawmakers have proposed relocating critical server infrastructure underground to protect hardware from aerial assaults. Valery Yermakov, deputy CEO of state-controlled telecom operator Rostelecom, told a conference in Moscow that the sector requires specialized secure vaults to safeguard operations, referring to the need for a so-called Doomsday data vault.
Independent experts note that replacing specialized high-performance chips will prove difficult and costly under existing international trade restrictions. IT expert Mikhail Klimarev told Reuters that procuring replacement components through indirect import channels involves lengthy negotiations and significant financial premiums, warning that damage to these supercomputers could severely set back the sanction-burdened Russian AI industry.
Some commentators compared the lack of reported disruption at state-controlled Sberbank with Yandex—whose taxi and food delivery units had reported disruptions—saying it showed that Sberbank’s centers are better protected. Military blogger Alexander Kots wrote that this represents a great example of what a business owner can do to protect their assets. Under an August decree by President Vladimir Putin, the state holds the authority to take over administration of poorly protected facilities.
The Sberbank site in Balakovo is located close to the Balakovo nuclear power plant, which the data center uses as an energy source, as well as the Saratov hydroelectric power plant. No damage was reported to either power facility from the drone attack.
Ukraine maintains that it is responding to Russian attacks on its own data sites, with both countries having frequently targeted each other’s energy refineries, power stations, ports, and e-commerce companies throughout the ongoing conflict.