Massive drone raid disrupts Russian digital networks and flights
Ukrainian forces launched more than 500 drones across several Russian regions overnight, sparking fires in Saratov industrial sites, crippling online services, and grounding flights across all four major Moscow airports.
Critical digital nodes under fire
The strikes mark an expanding focus on digital infrastructure, with overnight barrages targeting a massive data processing hub in Balakovo, Saratov region. The facility was designed to house up to 120,000 servers.
Local governor Roman Busargin said additional sites across the industrial city sustained damage, leaving one civilian dead and damaging residential buildings. The attack follows strikes over the past week against three data centers operated by Russian tech giant Yandex in the Ryazan, Kaluga, and Vladimir regions.
Widespread service outages
The disruptions crippled ride-hailing services, cloud storage platforms, mapping systems, and certain banking applications across major urban centers. Russian users also reported intermittent connectivity issues when accessing Google search services.
“The mapping tool worked, but large parts displayed incorrectly without clear pedestrian navigation,” said a local resident. Another commuter reported waiting more than three hours due to widespread taxi dispatch failures.
Kremlin response and aviation shutdown
The incident prompted an unscheduled cybersecurity review inside the Kremlin. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any direct link between the meeting and the strikes on data hubs.
“It is premature to speak of financial damages. This company is resilient, and while it faces difficulties, management is taking urgent steps,” said Peskov, noting that government officials were monitoring the situation.
Mounting security risks also triggered flight suspensions across Moscow's Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Vnukovo, and Zhukovsky airports. Ground operations at Vnukovo remained frozen for more than eight hours, during which authorities ordered passengers deplaned from all staged aircraft.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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