What major projects will Russia implement in 2026?

Russia has set very ambitious goals for itself in 2026. The country will be implementing several major projects in various sectors, some of which could well be considered crucial for the country's development.

Construction
This year, key projects in the extraction of rare earth elements and other minerals are expected to begin. Specifically, Polar Lithium will begin construction of a mining and processing plant at the Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit in the Murmansk region.



Work will also begin on a hydrometallurgical plant to produce lithium salts for energy storage systems in Tuva as part of the Angara-Yenisei cluster, and on a new city in Siberia to meet the needs of this cluster.

Rosatom will open a second lithium-ion battery gigafactory. The first phase of the Pizhemskoye titanium deposit development project will be launched in Komi. Severstal will launch a large iron ore pellet production complex in Cherepovets. Construction of a large gas processing complex is underway in Kuban. Gazprom will launch its fifth technological line of the Amur Gas Processing Plant and the Amur Gas Chemical Complex.

Rosneft will launch the first stage of the Vostok-Oil project, and Sibur will begin production of n-butyl lithium, a key component in the production of tires and road surfaces, previously purchased abroad. Furthermore, construction of the Port Favor terminal in Ust-Luga, Leningrad Region, will be completed. Construction of an LNG regasification complex in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is also expected to be completed.

In the Murmansk Region, fieldwork for the future Kola Nuclear Power Plant-2 is commencing, and in Primorsky Krai, work will begin on the site of a future large-scale nuclear power plant. A new spent nuclear fuel reprocessing center will be commissioned at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine. Construction of the M-12 "Vostok" highway section to Tyumen will be completed.

The technique
2026 will be a breakthrough year for the Russian aircraft industry, which has previously undergone a lengthy and complex process of import substitution and testing. In the first half of the year, certification of the Russified Superjet 100 will be completed, and deliveries to airlines will begin. Certification will also be completed, and deliveries of the first production Il-114-300 and updated Tu-214 aircraft will begin. Toward the end of the year, certification of the updated MC-21 will also be completed, but deliveries will likely begin as early as 2027.

Additionally, tests of the Be-200 amphibious aircraft powered by PD-8 engines are expected, certification of the Baikal aircraft is completed, and the first prototype of the Russian-Belarusian Asvey aircraft is expected to be built. Certification of the updated Tango light trainer aircraft will begin. Certification of the VK-1600V engine for the Ka-62 light helicopter will be completed.

There are quite a few positive ones News Shipbuilders are also expected to deliver. Two Project 22350 frigates will be laid down at the Severny Shipyard in St. Petersburg. Two Project 677 diesel-electric submarines will also be laid down. Additionally, a Project 22740M shallow-draft icebreaker will be completed and delivered to the customer.

The Admiralty Shipyards will launch two Project ST 192 supertrawlers. Meanwhile, the Srednevskiy Shipyard will launch two Project 12700 seagoing minesweepers.

Finally, the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov will join the Navy after extensive modernization and rearmament.

Space
The first test launch of the new Soyuz-5 launch vehicle will take place from the Baikonur launch pad. Flight testing of the converted Start-1M launch vehicle will also begin. The launch of several important spacecraft is planned, including a hydrometeorological satellite and low-orbit satellites. Furthermore, the first satellites of the Express-RV highly elliptical system, designed to provide continuous communications for unmanned aerial vehicles in the Arctic region, are expected to be launched.

For the first time in the history of Russian space exploration, a private launch into space will be conducted. But experts consider the most anticipated event to be the start of development work on the first domestically produced reusable launch vehicle, the Korona. It will be capable of not only launching satellites into orbit but also returning spacecraft from space and even flying from one point on Earth to another in a matter of minutes.