Ukrainian drones hit Russia's biggest data centre

MOSCOW, Oct 14 - Ukrainian drones hit Russia's biggest data centre, owned by the country's largest bank and technology company, Sberbank, but did not disrupt its operations, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

The strike in the Saratov region on the Volga River followed three attacks in the past week on data centres owned by Russian tech group Yandex. Ukraine says it is responding to Russian attacks on its own data sites.

"We confirm that the data processing centre was attacked. At the same time, all of Sberbank's systems and services are operating normally and without disruption," Sberbank First Deputy CEO Alexander Vedyakhin told reporters.

Along with Yandex, its main domestic rival, Sberbank is Russia's leading developer of artificial intelligence. The domestic market is shared between Sberbank's GigaChat model and YandexGPT.

Both companies have invested heavily in the development of their models but lag global leaders in the United States and China by up to nine months, partly due to Western sanctions which complicate Russia's access to the most advanced hardware.

Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency reported in 2024 that the Sberbank centre that was hit in Balakovo, covering an area of 55,000 square metres, will host Russia's biggest supercomputer, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.

The site is located next to the Balakovo nuclear power plant and the Saratov hydroelectric power plant.

Neither Yandex nor Sberbank have said whether supercomputers were damaged in the Ukrainian attacks. REUTERS