In Russia, data centers are proposed to disconnect clients to maintain reserves — Meduza

In Russia, the aggressor state, the Ministry of Digital Development has proposed requiring data center operators to disconnect non-priority clients if resources are insufficient to create a capacity reserve for state needs. As Meduza reports, the proposal is linked to a decree signed by Vladimir Putin on November 2.

A 10% capacity reserve

The decree requires private owners of data centers to reserve 10% of available space and capacity for state needs. On November 6, Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development held a meeting on the mechanism for implementing this decision.

Operators must provide reserve capacity to services on “whitelists.” Following a request from the ministry or a subcommittee established by the decree, data centers will have 24 hours to respond. If there are no free resources, an operator will have to disconnect existing clients. For this purpose, companies are being advised to determine client priority levels in advance.

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Temporary requirements with no set end date

Under the ministry’s proposal, disconnecting clients will be considered a force majeure circumstance that would exempt operators from liability. At the same time, according to sources at Russia’s RBC, failure to meet the capacity reservation requirements may serve as grounds for introducing temporary administration.

The Ministry of Digital Development described the measures under discussion as temporary, but did not set a specific end date: the requirements will remain in force until the decree is repealed or amended. A ministry representative stated that mechanisms for implementing the decree are still being developed jointly with experts and market participants.

At the end of August, Putin signed a separate decree allowing temporary administration to be introduced at critical infrastructure facilities whose owners failed to ensure protection against security threats, including attacks by Ukrainian drones. This occurred after a series of strikes by Ukraine’s Defense Forces on data centers belonging to Yandex and, later, Sberbank.