Ukraine drone strikes spur Russian talk of underground data centres

Kremlin requires data centre owners to reserve capacity for emergency state needs; strikes disrupt data centres operated by Yandex, Sberbank and VKontakte

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Published3 November 2026

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Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged Russian data centres and disrupted cloud services for millions of users; Rostelcom has raised the possibility of moving some underground.

Russian tech companies are scrambling to harden and hide their data centres after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged facilities housing AI supercomputers and disrupted cloud services for millions of Russian users. The Kremlin is requiring data centre owners to reserve computing capacity for emergency state needs and has authorised possible use of foreign data centres.

These developments are consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine, in which the Russian military has bombarded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles nearly night and day in recent months and specifically targeted Ukrainian data centres since late September. Ukraine has retaliated with its own drone strikes on military and infrastructure targets across Russia.

Those strikes have degraded or knocked out data centres operated by Russian tech giant Yandex, state-owned bank Sberbank, social media site VKontakte and the Russian Ministry of Finance.

State-owned telecommunications company Rostelcom has raised the possibility of moving some Russian data centres underground in talks with the nickel and palladium mining company Norilsk, according to Russian newspaper Vedomosti. Industry publication Data Center Dynamics also pointed to a recent proposal by a Russian regional governor to build data centres within open-pit coal mines while planting green public parks above as camouflage.

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Analysis

Why This Matters

Data centres have become targets in the war, directly degrading the civilian digital services that Russians and Russian businesses rely on.
The Kremlin's requirement that providers reserve capacity for emergency state needs gives the state first claim on private computing infrastructure in a crisis.
Underground and camouflaged data centres signal a longer-term effort to keep Russian cloud and AI infrastructure out of range of Ukrainian drones.

Background

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has expanded into a war fought heavily with drones and missiles on both sides. Ukraine has systematically struck Russian military and infrastructure targets, while Russia has targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure and, more recently, Ukrainian data centres. The new Russian measures reflect a widening battle over digital infrastructure as well as physical territory.

Key Perspectives

The Kremlin: requiring data centre owners to reserve computing capacity for emergency state needs and authorising possible use of foreign data centres.

Rostelcom: raised the possibility of moving some Russian data centres underground in talks with Norilsk.

A Russian regional governor: proposed building data centres within open-pit coal mines, with public parks above as camouflage.

Ukraine: retaliated against Russian military and infrastructure targets with drone strikes, degrading or knocking out data centres run by Yandex, Sberbank, VKontakte and the Ministry of Finance.

What to Watch

Whether Rostelcom and Norilsk turn their talks into concrete underground construction plans.
Whether further Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian data centres and again disrupt cloud services for millions of users.
Whether Russian authorities follow through on authorising use of foreign data centres for state needs.

Sources

Ukraine’s drone strikes spur hasty Russian plans for underground data centers · Ars Technica

Checked

12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.

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SupportedThe headline says Ukrainian drone strikes prompted Russian discussion of underground data centres.Ars Technica - All content: “Now, state-owned telecommunications company Rostelcom has raised the possibility of moving some Russian data centers underground”
SupportedThe Kremlin is requiring data centre owners to reserve capacity for emergency state needs.Ars Technica - All content: “the Kremlin is requiring data center owners to reserve computing capacity for emergency state needs”
SupportedUkrainian strikes disrupted data centres operated by Yandex, Sberbank and VKontakte.Ars Technica - All content: “Ukraine has retaliated with its own drone strikes on military and infrastructure targets across Russia, degrading or knocking out data centers operated by Russian tech giant Yandex , the state-owned bank Sberbank, social media site VKontakte”
SupportedUkrainian drone strikes damaged Russian data centres housing AI supercomputers and disrupted cloud services for millions of users.Ars Technica - All content: “Ukrainian drone strikes damaged facilities housing AI supercomputers and disrupted cloud services for millions of Russian users.”
SupportedRussian tech companies are scrambling to harden and hide data centres after the strikes.Ars Technica - All content: “Russian tech companies are scrambling to harden and hide their data centers underground after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged facilities”
SupportedThe Kremlin has authorised possible use of foreign data centres.Ars Technica - All content: “the Kremlin is requiring data center owners to reserve computing capacity for emergency state needs and has even authorized possible use of foreign data centers.”
SupportedThe Russian military has bombarded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles nearly night and day in recent months.Ars Technica - All content: “the Russian military has bombarded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles nearly night and day in recent months”
SupportedThe Russian military has specifically targeted Ukrainian data centres since late September.Ars Technica - All content: “specifically targeting Ukrainian data centers since late September.”
SupportedUkraine has retaliated with drone strikes on military and infrastructure targets across Russia.Ars Technica - All content: “Ukraine has retaliated with its own drone strikes on military and infrastructure targets across Russia”
SupportedThe strikes degraded or knocked out data centres operated by Yandex, Sberbank, VKontakte and the Russian Ministry of Finance.Ars Technica - All content: “degrading or knocking out data centers operated by Russian tech giant Yandex , the state-owned bank Sberbank, social media site VKontakte, and the Russian Ministry of Finance.”
SupportedRostelcom raised the possibility of moving some Russian data centres underground in talks with Norilsk, according to Vedomosti.Ars Technica - All content: “Rostelcom has raised the possibility of moving some Russian data centers underground in talks with the nickel and palladium mining company Norilsk, according to Russian newspaper Vedomosti .”
SupportedData Center Dynamics pointed to a proposal to build data centres in open-pit coal mines and plant green public parks above them as camouflage.Ars Technica - All content: “The industry publication Data Center Dynamics also pointed to a recent proposal by a Russian regional governor to build data centers within open-pit coal mines while planting green public parks above as camouflage.”