Artificial Intelligence - Russia

Presidential Decree No. 490 (10 Oct 2019) approved the National Strategy for AI Development to 2030; it was substantially amended by Presidential Decree No. 124 in February 2024, adding ~40 pages emphasizing technological sovereignty and domestic AI capacity amid sanctions, with targets such as growing the AI services sector and AI graduate numbers by 2030.

A national AI Code of Ethics was signed in October 2021 as a soft-law instrument for developers, providers and public bodies; accession is voluntary, with monitoring via public disclosure and peer review. By 2025 it had been signed by 900+ organizations including federal/regional authorities.

On 18 March 2026 the Ministry of Digital Development published a draft federal law 'On the Fundamentals of State Regulation of AI Technologies in the Russian Federation' for public discussion, potentially effective 1 September 2027. It introduces 'sovereign' and 'national' AI model categories with mandatory FSTEC and FSB certification, use of 'trusted' models for critical infrastructure, user notification of AI interaction, and labeling of AI-generated content.

Rather than a single horizontal AI law to date, Russia has favored regulating AI on an industry-specific basis, including experimental legal regimes (regulatory sandboxes) and sector codes (e.g., for financial organizations and healthcare).

Presidential Decree No. 116 (26 Feb 2026) created a Commission under the President on the Development of AI Technologies, co-chaired by Deputy PM Dmitry Grigorenko and Presidential Administration deputy head Maxim Oreshkin, to coordinate federal/regional bodies and the Bank of Russia and define directions for improving AI legal regulation.

In late 2025/early 2026 the Russian government identified priority areas for applying AI in public administration, consistent with the strategy's state-led, sovereignty-oriented deployment goals.