Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian data centers across six regions — forcing companies into Kazakhstan as Putin orders emergency capacity seizure
- Russian businesses are reportedly searching abroad for safer data center locations
- Ukrainian drone strikes have allegedly disrupted facilities linked to major Russian organizations
- Kazakhstan and Belarus are attracting Russian companies seeking backup computing infrastructure
Russian businesses are seeking computing facilities outside their borders after Ukrainian drone strikes hit data center sites across several parts of the country in October 2026.
The attacks affected installations connected to major technology and financial organizations, raising concerns about whether domestic infrastructure can withstand further disruptions.
The search is intensifying as available Russian cloud capacity hits its peak, leaving companies with fewer options for securing reliable backup arrangements.
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Russian companies look abroad as infrastructure risks increase
Yevgeny Svidersky, vice president of cloud services at ITGlobal.com, told Kommersant on November 10 2026 that interest in overseas facilities had increased sharply.
Kazakhstan has emerged as a particularly attractive destination, while Belarus is also being considered for hosting artificial intelligence infrastructure and backup systems.
Two additional industry sources told Kommersant that some businesses had already started transferring workloads, although the scale of those moves remains unclear.
“Companies are reconsidering their approach to business continuity and are looking for a backup site that does not depend on the network and energy infrastructure of the primary data center,” Svidersky said.
The October 2026 attacks affected facilities associated with Yandex, VK, Sberbank, and Russia’s Federal Tax Service.
The six affected regions included Vladimir, Kaluga, Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, and Saratov, all located in European Russia.
Russia’s infrastructure constraints extend beyond the facilities struck, with Moscow reportedly having only about 50 megawatts of unused data center capacity.
That remaining supply could accommodate approximately two to four large commercial facilities, limiting the room available for companies seeking additional domestic hosting.
Moscow’s capacity shortage adds pressure as Putin orders data center reserves
Kommersant’s sources estimate that nearly 90% of cloud resources nationwide are already occupied, indicating little spare capacity for sudden demand.
Against this backdrop, President Vladimir Putin has directed privately operated data centers to set aside 10% of their capacity for Russian information services.
The decree, published through Russia’s official legal portal, gives operators 10 days to make the required capacity available for possible government use.
Owners may continue using the reserved resources themselves unless a government subcommission instructs them to provide capacity for designated domestic information services.
Once such an instruction arrives, operators must make the reserved resources available within 24 hours.
The arrangement gives the state a mechanism to redirect privately controlled computing resources during emergencies without permanently transferring ownership of the facilities.
Russian officials have also considered establishing AI computing facilities in Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Alexey Borshchov, an AI project business architect at Avandok, said the overseas arrangements concern geographic backup rather than wholesale relocation.
“In practice, this is about geographic redundancy rather than moving the main infrastructure. For example, some market players are already looking for backup sites simultaneously in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan,” Borshchov said.
“Some cloud providers are discussing with clients the possibility of reserving capacity in friendly countries.”
Companies seeking overseas backup capacity may consequently face a difficult balance between reducing domestic infrastructure exposure and complying with new state requirements.
Via United24media
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