Putin orders private data centres to reserve 10% of capacity for state use

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree requiring privately owned data centres to set aside 10% of their capacity to support national IT infrastructure. The move follows recent drone attacks on facilities operated by Yandex and Sberbank.

Russian owners of non-state data centres will be required to reserve 10 per cent of their capacity to help keep Russia's IT infrastructure running, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday. This mechanism would allow Russian authorities to quickly access available data centre capacity if needed.

Russian data centres have become targets of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks, with facilities operated by technology companies Yandex and Sberbank struck in October.

Putin instructed the Digital Development Ministry to conduct an inventory of available capacity and floor space at privately owned data centres across Russia. A special government commission, to be established under the decree, will be empowered to order the release of the reserved capacity, with operators required to provide access within 24 hours of such a decision.

The decree also allows for the temporary use of data centres located abroad, subject to approval by the FSB security service.