Russia faces fiber optic shortage due to shutdown of its only plant - intelligence
Kyiv • UNN
The only fiber optic plant in Russia ceased operations due to equipment damage. The requirement to use Russian raw materials has been postponed until 2028.
Russia has encountered a new problem in its technological sector – the authorities of the aggressor country are forced to postpone the mandatory localization of fiber optic production for at least two years. This is reported by UNN with reference to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine.
Details
According to Ukrainian foreign intelligence, this happened due to the shutdown of the only plant in the Russian Federation that produced this product. Because of this, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed temporarily allowing the use of imported optical fiber for cable production in Russia – at the same time, postponing the requirement for mandatory use of Russian raw materials until 2028.
The fiber optic systems plant in Saransk ceased operations after critical equipment damage, and existing warehouse stocks of products, according to the Russian government, will soon be depleted. Production is not expected to resume before the end of 2027, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated.
This situation once again demonstrated the vulnerability of Russian industry, which largely depends on a limited number of manufacturers and imported technologies. Optical fiber is a key element of modern infrastructure – it is used in telecommunications, data centers, drone control systems, energy, and other critically important sectors. Due to the shutdown of the only plant, the country has effectively lost its own production of strategically important products.
The Foreign Intelligence Service noted that even a temporary cancellation of the localization requirement does not guarantee a solution to the problem.
Recall
According to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, leading Russian economic institutions – the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting, the Higher School of Economics, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation – have recorded that the aggressor country's economy has approached stagflation.