Russian Firms Seek Overseas Data Storage After Drone Attacks
Attacks and Infrastructure Crisis
Ukrainian drone strikes in October 2026 have left Russia's digital infrastructure facing a severe challenge. The attacks targeted regions including Vladimir, Kaluga, Leningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, and Saratov, causing direct damage to servers belonging to major organizations such as Yandex, VK, Sberbank, and the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
These events highlighted the vulnerability of Russia's internal network and energy infrastructure. Consequently, local technology companies have been forced to seek alternative locations for backup data centres outside the country's borders.
Kazakhstan and Belarus as New Sanctuaries
According to Evgeny Svidersky, Vice President of Cloud Services at ITGlobal.com, interest in overseas hosting has surged within the business sector. Companies are aiming to establish geographic redundancy to ensure their operations are not solely dependent on resources located within Russian territory.
Currently, Kazakhstan and Belarus are considered the most attractive destinations. Experts clarify that this does not involve a full relocation of infrastructure, but rather securing backup space for critical data and artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Several companies have already begun partially shifting their workflows.
State Control and Resource Shortages
The situation is compounded by the fact that nearly 90% of cloud resources within Russia are already occupied. Available capacity is so scarce that it could only accommodate two to four large commercial projects. Against this backdrop, Vladimir Putin has issued a decree requiring private data centres to reserve 10% of their capacity for government use.
Operators have been given 10 days to establish this reserve, and must provide the resources within 24 hours if requested by state agencies. This mechanism allows the state to seize private computing power instantly during emergencies, placing additional pressure on businesses already struggling to secure their own data. Companies are expected to increasingly seek backup servers in "friendly countries" to avoid both military threats and the risks of state intervention, though this presents a difficult balance between local legal requirements and operational security.