Russia's digital technology infrastructure is undergoing emergency procedures aimed at protecting data centers and artificial intelligence computing from continuous drone attacks. Russian tech companies are moving rapidly to hide data centers underground, at a time when the Kremlin is moving to impose new requirements obliging digital cloud owners to reserve capacities for government emergency cases, while allowing the use of external computing facilities in special cases.
Repercussions of Strikes on Digital Infrastructure
These field developments came after data centers operated by major companies such as Yandex, Sberbank, VKontakte, and the Russian Ministry of Finance suffered varying degrees of damage due to drone attacks. These strikes led to widespread disruptions in payment applications, digital banking services, e-commerce platforms, and video streaming, in addition to forcing Yandex to relocate three of its artificial intelligence supercomputers after its original centers were targeted.
Response Plans and Engineering Preparation
In an effort to find secure alternatives, the state-owned telecommunications company Rostelecom is discussing the possibility of establishing underground data centers through consultations with the mining company Norilsk. In the same context, a local Russian official suggested utilizing open-pit coal mines to build data centers inside them while constructing public parks above them for visual and security camouflage purposes.
Kremlin Decisions and the Shift in Digital Sovereignty
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree obliging data center operators to allocate 10 percent of available capacity to serve government needs when necessary. The decree also included an authorization for a special government committee permitting the use of foreign data centers in coordination with the Federal Security Service, which represents a prominent shift away from the sovereign internet law that previously prohibited relying on cloud infrastructure outside the country's borders.
What is Changing Practically?
This shift reflects the fragility of the Russian digital system, which has historically been characterized by extreme centralization under the management of a limited number of major tech companies. In contrast, Ukraine's digital infrastructure has proven greater resilience thanks to its reliance on a distributed model and the transfer of cloud services in cooperation with American tech companies such as Amazon and Microsoft, along with the use of Starlink satellite communication stations as backup systems.