Ukrainian Drones Hit Sberbank Mega Data Center Project Deep Inside Russia
Ukrainian attack drones struck Sberbank’s newly built Mega Data Center in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, hitting a project valued at 122.2 billion rubles and designed to host up to 120,000 servers with 82 MW of electrical capacity.
Ukraine has extended its drone campaign to one of Russia’s flagship technology projects, striking a massive new data center tied to the country’s largest bank.
Battlefield reporting says Ukrainian attack drones hit Sberbank’s Mega Data Center in Balakovo, Saratov Oblast. Footage from the scene shows at least one drone flying directly into the front entrance of the facility.
The project is valued at 122.2 billion rubles. Plans called for around 3,000 server racks, capacity for up to 120,000 servers and electrical capacity of up to 82 megawatts, making it one of Russia’s largest data centers.
There is no confirmed information yet on the extent of the damage, any casualties, or the operational status of the facility after the strike. Russian authorities have not issued a detailed public assessment.
Even so, the ability of Ukrainian drones to reach and hit such a complex in Saratov Oblast underlines how deep‑rear infrastructure inside Russia is now vulnerable to long‑range attacks. The Balakovo site is not a frontline military base; it was built to serve Sberbank’s data and computing needs at a national scale.
For Sberbank, a hit on this facility risks delays or disruptions in plans to centralize data storage and processing in a single high‑capacity hub. Data centers of this size typically support transaction systems, customer services and other digital operations for banks and allied institutions.
The strike also illustrates how digital infrastructure has become part of the broader war target set. Buildings that host servers, cooling systems and power feeds are physical assets with fixed locations and, as this incident shows, can be engaged with relatively low‑cost unmanned aircraft.
How Russia responds will be visible in several ways: whether Sberbank or regulators acknowledge any service problems linked to the Balakovo site; whether there is a public push to strengthen air defenses around data centers and similar facilities; and whether further Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia focus on high‑value digital and financial infrastructure rather than only on military sites.
Sources
- OSINT