MOSCOW, Russia / Eurasian Newswire / – Russian data centres will have to reserve 10% of their space and capacity for emergency use under a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on November 2. The decree also permits the temporary use of computing power at data centres abroad to support Russian information resources. It cites the unfriendly actions of certain foreign states as the reason for the measures.
The 10% reserve applies to Russian data centres owned by non-government organisations, as well as state and municipal enterprises and institutions, according to the decree. Operators have 10 days from its entry into force to set aside the capacity. They may keep using it, but must make it available within 24 hours if a special subcommittee orders it. Fees for such services will be capped at a level set by the subcommittee.
The same subcommittee, part of the government commission on digital development, will decide on the temporary use of foreign data centres. Such decisions need the approval of the Federal Security Service. The aim is to ensure the uninterrupted operation of information resources belonging to Russian citizens and companies. The government must create the subcommittee and approve rules for using reserve and foreign computing capacity under the new arrangements.
Inventory and new reliability rules
The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has been told to carry out an inventory of the space and capacity available in Russian data centres. It must also introduce mandatory requirements for the reliability and continuous operation of information resources. Russian firms have increasingly built services to run on domestic infrastructure, including AI agents that run inside closed corporate networks. The decree was published on the official legal information portal.
Rostelecom is developing underground data centres with enhanced protection against external threats, Vedomosti reported on November 2. The company is negotiating with Norilsk Nickel over building one such facility. State-controlled Rostelecom is a major provider of data centre and cloud services in Russia. The talks come after a series of attacks on Russian digital infrastructure. The Moscow Times said the decree aims to keep Russia’s IT infrastructure running.
Drones target Russian tech companies
Ukrainian drones struck Russian data centres several times in October. According to Euronews, citing AP, five sites in five regions were hit, including three Yandex facilities in Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir. A Sber data centre in Balakovo was struck on October 14, and a VKontakte facility in the Leningrad region was hit on October 18. The Sasovo facility houses one of Yandex’s supercomputers. Users reported disruption to payments, navigation and cloud services.
Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said his ministry and the Ministry of Defence were discussing extra measures to protect data centres from drones. None of the affected companies has disclosed the extent of the damage. Yandex, which also operates delivery robots in Russia, has three supercomputers ranked among the world’s top 500. Experts have said repairs could take months or years. It has not been explained why air defences failed to protect the sites, Euronews said.