A Russian official has proposed building data centers in disused coal mines to protect them from drone strikes, as prolonged Ukrainian strikes rattle the Russian government.

A Russian official has proposed building data centers inside 300-meter-deep coal pits to shield them from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Speaking at a session of Russian Energy Week, as reported by Ukrainian media, Kemerovo region governor Ilya Seredyuk proposed placing data centers inside depleted open-pit coal mines, citing their resistance to aerial strikes. He also suggested building public parks and greenery above the facilities to keep them hidden from potential threats.

Seredyuk said such facilities would be cheaper to build, since there would be no need to spend funds on surface reclamation. He added that the depth of the pits would allow standing pit water and subterranean aquifers to be used as natural chillers, reducing capital and operating costs for cooling.

Seredyuk's comments come as Ukraine steps up its attacks on Russian data center infrastructure. Recent drone attacks on data centers owned by Yandex have disrupted Russian services. On the same day, DCD reported that a drone had struck a data center operated by Russian technology and social media company VK.

In recent weeks, Russia has been discussing alternative data center locations in light of the attacks. Rostelecom's vice president has promoted the idea of a so-called "doomsday" data center. Meanwhile, Russian officials have been making plans to deploy data centers in friendly neighboring countries.

The demands of high-performance computing, along with the risk of data centers becoming targets in war, have led developers and operators worldwide to explore subterranean data centers, and in some cases to build them. Proponents cite added security, lower cooling and energy costs, and greater sustainability. Several companies in Israel have proposed subterranean data centers, and in 2024 Oracle stated that it would build a data center there nine floors underground.