Yaroslavl Region Turns to AI to Modernize Urban Infrastructure and Utility Services
Russia’s Yaroslavl region plans to expand the use of artificial intelligence across utility services and urban infrastructure, using AI systems to address everyday quality-of-life issues ranging from waste collection to street maintenance. In Yaroslavl Region signed a cooperation agreement with NtechLab, one of Russia’s leading AI developers and a partner of state-owned technology conglomerate Rostekh, during the CIPR-2026 technology conference.
The agreement is aimed at accelerating the deployment of AI technologies in municipal infrastructure and housing and utility services. The agreement builds on an existing partnership between Yaroslavl Region and NtechLab. The company’s technologies are already used in municipal security systems, while smart cameras have also been deployed in pilot projects to monitor household waste collection sites.
The new phase focuses on expanding the region’s information and telecommunications ecosystem. AI systems will analyze video feeds from both street cameras and devices installed on public transportation, identifying a wide range of issues, from uncollected garbage to problems with street cleaning and maintenance.
As Yaroslavl Region Digital Development Minister Maksim Bartykov noted, AI tools are expected to help resolve many of the small but persistent problems that affect residents every day and complicate efforts to create a more comfortable urban environment.
Smart Waste Sites and Cleaner Neighborhoods
One of the region’s nearest-term priorities will be automating oversight of municipal solid waste management. Systems developed by NtechLab can detect illegal construction waste dumping sites in real time, identify overflowing waste collection areas, monitor compliance with garbage removal schedules and flag vehicles blocking access for sanitation trucks.
AI-powered video analytics is already being introduced in several Russian regions and has significant scaling potential. According to NtechLab, Russia has approximately 15 million surveillance cameras installed nationwide, yet only about 7% are currently connected to neural network systems. In practice, that means much of the foundation for smart urban infrastructure is already in place, while the next step is unlocking its full operational potential.
That dynamic is creating a substantial market opportunity for Russian IT companies and providing new momentum for the evolution of domestic AI and infrastructure technologies.
Regions Lay the Groundwork for Smart Cities
The agreement between Yaroslavl Region and NtechLab is part of a broader trend unfolding across Russia’s regions. In 2024, Rostekh reported that the NTekhSiti (NTechCity) smart-city video analytics platform, which is also used to monitor waste collection sites, had successfully completed pilot deployments in Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk, Khabarovsk, Chelyabinsk, Nizhnekamsk, Anapa, Samara and Yaroslavl.
Tula joined that list in 2025, while the platform’s capabilities were expanded significantly. For example, neural networks can now detect incidents such as dog walking in prohibited areas.
Since 2022, the Russian Environmental Operator has monitored landfill conditions using drones, and beginning in 2023, the organization started actively deploying AI systems to analyze the collected data.
Smarter Utility Management
Russia’s utility sector is increasingly moving toward AI-driven infrastructure management rather than simply using technology to streamline data processing. In Yaroslavl Region, further integration between NtechLab’s systems and municipal platforms is expected in the near future.
That experience is also likely to spread to other Russian regions, while the flexibility of AI systems should allow them to adapt quickly to local conditions. Over time, testing these technologies in Russia’s often challenging municipal environment could also make them attractive for export to friendly countries with similar utility infrastructure.
