Decree 809

Russia to Require Independent Lab Testing of Sovereign AI Models for Legal and Traditional Values Compliance

The Russian Ministry of Digital Development is discussing a certification scheme under which developers can submit large generative AI models to accredited independent laboratories. These labs will verify compliance with Russian legislation and traditional spiritual-moral values defined in presidential decree No. 809. Only models seeking official national or sovereign status, which unlocks state support, data access and priority procurement, will undergo the process. Developers must first conduct self-testing according to a risk-oriented methodology and supply architecture details, filtering mechanisms and other documentation. Accredited laboratories will then run benchmarks, attempt prompt-injection attacks and produce evaluation reports, while the final decision remains with MinTsifry. Separate security assessments for government systems will be performed by the FSB and FSTEC Russia. Experts have called for transparent, reproducible tests and periodic re-certification after model updates.