Russia's Quantum Program and the Russian Quantum Center: From 20 to 72 Qubits
Russia's Quantum Program in Context
Russia's quantum program is smaller and more opaque than those of the US, China, or the EU, but it is active. Russia's Rosatom state corporation coordinates the national quantum roadmap, with academic partners at the Russian Quantum Center, Lebedev Physical Institute, and Moscow State University. The stated national goal is technological sovereignty in quantum technology by 2030.
The Russian Quantum Center (RQC)
The Russian Quantum Center is a private non-profit research organization located at Skolkovo Innovation Center. It was co-founded around 2010 by Ruslan Yunusov and others. The RQC has received funding from both government and private sources, and partners with major Russian universities on superconducting, ion, and neutral-atom quantum experiments.
Rosatom Coordination
Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, was tasked with coordinating the national quantum computing roadmap. This follows a common pattern (the US DOE playing a similar coordinating role via its national labs). Rosatom's goal is to demonstrate competitive quantum capabilities independent of US and Chinese supply chains.
Recent Milestones (Publicly Reported)
- 2023: 20-qubit ion quantum computer, reported by Rosatom and TASS.
- September 2024: 50-qubit ion-based system, reported by RQC and Lebedev Physical Institute (Alexey Likhachev announcement).
- Late 2024: 50-qubit neutral rubidium atom prototype at Moscow State University (MSU) and RQC.
- December 2025: 70-qubit ytterbium ion system (Xinhua coverage).
- December 2025: 72-qubit neutral atom system (MSU), with reported 94 percent accuracy.
These results are scientifically real but have mostly been reported through Russian state media (TASS, Rosatom press releases, Xinhua) rather than peer-reviewed Western journals. The underlying capabilities are plausible but the specific numbers should be interpreted with the same skepticism applied to any quantum announcement.
How This Compares
| Country | Largest reported physical qubit count (2026) | Peer-reviewed venue |
|---|---|---|
| USA (IBM) | 1,121 (Condor) | Published |
| USA (Google) | 105 (Willow) | Nature |
| China (USTC) | 105 (Zuchongzhi 3.0) | PRL |
| Russia (MSU/RQC) | 72 (neutral atom) | Russian media |
| UK | 100+ (Oxford, various) | Peer-reviewed subsets |
| EU (France, Germany) | 50-100+ (multiple programs) | Peer-reviewed |
Russia's 72-qubit claim is not cryptographically relevant, just as no other country's hardware is.
Implications for Post Quantum Cryptography
Russia is one of the handful of nations capable of sustaining multi-decade intelligence collection operations. If your data could be valuable to Russian signals intelligence in 2040, the Harvest Now Decrypt Later calculus applies. Your migration to Post Quantum Cryptography is the defense.
This is particularly relevant for European sensitive data, which transits Russian-adjacent geography or may be targeted by Russian-state-adjacent cyber operations.
Sanctions and Supply-Chain Constraints
Under Western sanctions following 2022, Russia's access to advanced superconducting fabrication, cryogenic equipment, and specialized quantum-grade components is constrained. This slows, but does not stop, Russian quantum progress. Ion and neutral-atom systems may be more accessible than superconducting under these constraints.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Russia near a Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer?
No. Russia's largest publicly reported quantum computer is a 72-qubit neutral atom system. A CRQC would require thousands of logical qubits corresponding to millions of physical qubits. Russia is many orders of magnitude away, as are all countries.
Should I worry about Russian HNDL?
Russian signals intelligence agencies have collection capabilities. Assuming they stockpile classical-encrypted traffic for future quantum decryption is a prudent threat model for data with multi-decade sensitivity. The defense is Post Quantum Cryptography migration.
Why is there less public detail about Russian quantum?
Russian quantum results are often published in Russian state media rather than peer-reviewed Western journals. Technical details, gate fidelities, and reproducibility are harder to verify from secondary sources.
Are sanctions stopping Russian quantum progress?
Sanctions constrain but do not stop Russian quantum R&D. They slow access to certain supply chains (cryogenics, superconducting fab) but ion-trap and neutral-atom systems have alternative supply paths.
Sources
Related Articles
- China's Quantum Program
- US National Quantum Initiative
- EU Quantum Flagship
- HNDL Threat
- Quantum Cold War
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Try QNSQYOriginally published at quantumsequrity.com/blog/russia-quantum-program-rqc.