The building likely has walls that go 6-8ft up passed the actual roof. The HVAC units and such sit on the roof exposed to the elements. I've been on several roofs like that
Others are correct, it's the infrastructure for the building that in warmer countries is generally in a basement. Most Russian buildings do not have basements unless they are government because of the cost in excavating and stabilizing it. Instead buildings especially in the very cold areas of Russia are on stilts and entry points are elevated above the average snowfall.
I see. So does that mean it's a large windowless (ie dark) room that can be accessed from the central staircase? Have you ever been in/seen the entrance to it?
Idk but I can tell you Moscow university was a tunnel / hallway behind those round windows. When I was there a quarter of them were broken and it was very exposed. Cold af
Probably, I was a kid exploring. The locked down areas weren't locked down. This building is epic! There's underground passages, and at the time I was there, dark abandoned underground Moria like spaces that went as far as the eye could see in the dark. It was in great disrepair, but, there was a full market on one of the basement levels. Basement floors the elevator didnt go. There was an attic space that was empty as far as the eye could see in the dark. Abandoned passages went between all the buildings on the university grounds. Ended up in one building from a passage where I could look out these glass doors to the outside, but, were locked. Was there in the mid 90s, no flashlight or cell phone so I explored as much as a kid dared to. Beautiful building, all sorts of hidden places.
We have a lot of buildings in Northern Germany with the cellar departments on top (every flat comes with a small room to store stuff outside the flat). Saves heavily on expensive underground floors and has additional advantages, especially when the ground water is sitting very high.