Network specialist Cisco reportedly physically destroyed about $23 million worth of technology after making the decision to cease operations in Russia over its opposition to the war in Ukraine. The equipment was destroyed in January despite Cisco's decision to exit Russia in March 2022.

The report comes from CNews (opens in new tab) (via Tom's Hardware (opens in new tab)) and cites the state-run Russian news agency TASS as the source. In other words, probably 100% reliable.

The equipment in question is described as mostly spare parts for Cisco devices, reportedly totaling 1.86 billion rubles, or roughly $22.9 million. However, the article goes beyond that and also states that samples and IT equipment for demonstrations will soon be destroyed.

Given that the company also reportedly destroyed 1 million rubles ($12,300) worth of office equipment, furniture, and even vehicles from its local subsidiary, it seems that Cisco wants to keep as much of it out of Russian hands as possible.

While it seems easier to simply destroy the equipment than to try to re-export it from Russia to the US or other European subsidiaries, the CNews article notes that other companies like SAP have been able to negotiate bulk sales of equipment to avoid various technology sanctions.

There may also be more mass disposal of Cisco in the future, as well as its main Russian subsidiary, Cisco Systems. A secondary subsidiary, Cisco Solutions, also deals in electronic and telecommunications technology and spare parts. Predictably, the company will also begin disposing of existing equipment.

However, the company's Q3 2022 financial results for its headquarters already show a loss of $67 million from its exit from Russia. The Toms Hardware report states that these are "non-recurring costs" related to equipment that was not recovered and support costs paid to employees in the withdrawn regions.

However, as Tom's also points out, with operating revenues of almost $13.6 billion, the figures related to the Russian withdrawal are fairly small fry in the grand scheme of things. In fact, if you look at the $2.8 million in revenue for the three months of the third quarter of this year, that is only a few days' worth of revenue.