Cost of insuring Russian data centers against drone attacks skyrockets — rising more than 100-fold in some cases

Insurance for data centers in Russia has risen sharply, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.In the first half of 2026, insurance cost 0.03–0.06% of the value of insured property. Ukrainian attacks on data centers belonging to Yandex and Sberbank began in October, and rates have since risen to 1–5%. In some cases, the price increase amounts to more than 100-fold.The Russian National Reinsurance Company, which is owned by Russia’s central bank, also tightened conditions for insuring data centers in October, setting a base rate of 1% for insured amounts of 10 billion rubles.The company also compiled a list of locations where it reinsures facilities on a case-by-case basis, under individually negotiated terms.As a result, companies are reducing insurance coverage or excluding certain risks from their policies, experts say.Ukrainian drones first attacked data centers belonging to three Russian companies — Yandex, Sberbank, and VK — in October. Russian troops had earlier attacked data centers in Ukraine.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.