diff --git a/services/cassandra/backend-deployment.yaml b/services/cassandra/backend-deployment.yaml
index 927673c41..2cb5b9791 100644
--- a/services/cassandra/backend-deployment.yaml
+++ b/services/cassandra/backend-deployment.yaml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     app: cassandra-backend
 spec:
-  replicas: 1
+  replicas: 0
   revisionHistoryLimit: 2
   strategy:
     type: RollingUpdate
diff --git a/services/cassandra/migration-jobs/artifact-copy-veles-to-cassandra-job.yaml b/services/cassandra/migration-jobs/artifact-copy-veles-to-cassandra-job.yaml
index 65f434389..f2b49e883 100644
--- a/services/cassandra/migration-jobs/artifact-copy-veles-to-cassandra-job.yaml
+++ b/services/cassandra/migration-jobs/artifact-copy-veles-to-cassandra-job.yaml
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 apiVersion: batch/v1
 kind: Job
 metadata:
-  name: cassandra-artifact-copy-from-veles-1
+  name: cassandra-artifact-copy-from-veles-2
   namespace: cassandra
 spec:
-  suspend: true
+  suspend: false
   backoffLimit: 0
   activeDeadlineSeconds: 43200
   ttlSecondsAfterFinished: 86400
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ spec:
               value: /dest
             - name: ALLOW_NONEMPTY_DEST
               value: "0"
+            - name: RESET_DESTINATION
+              value: "1"
           command: ["python", "-c"]
           args:
             - |
@@ -42,12 +44,15 @@ spec:
               import hashlib
               import json
               import os
+              import shutil
               import tarfile
+              import time
               import urllib.request
 
               SOURCE_URL = os.environ["SOURCE_URL"].rstrip("/")
               DEST = Path(os.environ.get("DEST_ROOT", "/dest")).resolve()
               ALLOW_NONEMPTY = os.environ.get("ALLOW_NONEMPTY_DEST", "") in {"1", "true", "yes"}
+              RESET_DESTINATION = os.environ.get("RESET_DESTINATION", "") in {"1", "true", "yes"}
               EXCLUDE_TOP = {"lost+found", ".cassandra-artifact-migration"}
               REPORT_DIR = DEST / ".cassandra-artifact-migration"
 
@@ -57,6 +62,13 @@ spec:
               def assert_safe_destination() -> None:
                   DEST.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
                   entries = visible_entries()
+                  if entries and RESET_DESTINATION:
+                      for entry in entries:
+                          if entry.is_dir():
+                              shutil.rmtree(entry)
+                          else:
+                              entry.unlink()
+                      entries = visible_entries()
                   if entries and not ALLOW_NONEMPTY:
                       names = ", ".join(entry.name for entry in entries[:10])
                       raise SystemExit(f"destination is not empty; refusing to merge into existing data: {names}")
@@ -66,6 +78,16 @@ spec:
                   with urllib.request.urlopen(f"{SOURCE_URL}/manifest.json", timeout=120) as response:
                       return json.loads(response.read().decode())
 
+              def wait_for_manifest() -> dict[str, object]:
+                  last_error = ""
+                  for _attempt in range(90):
+                      try:
+                          return fetch_manifest()
+                      except Exception as exc:
+                          last_error = str(exc)
+                          time.sleep(5)
+                  raise SystemExit(f"source artifact exporter did not become ready: {last_error}")
+
               def safe_extract() -> None:
                   root_text = str(DEST)
                   with urllib.request.urlopen(f"{SOURCE_URL}/archive.tar", timeout=600) as response:
@@ -116,7 +138,7 @@ spec:
                   }
 
               assert_safe_destination()
-              source = fetch_manifest()
+              source = wait_for_manifest()
               (REPORT_DIR / "source_manifest.json").write_text(json.dumps(source, indent=2, sort_keys=True))
               safe_extract()
               dest = destination_manifest()
diff --git a/services/veles/migration-jobs/cassandra-artifact-export.yaml b/services/veles/migration-jobs/cassandra-artifact-export.yaml
index 1f12a2617..41173f70a 100644
--- a/services/veles/migration-jobs/cassandra-artifact-export.yaml
+++ b/services/veles/migration-jobs/cassandra-artifact-export.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ metadata:
   name: veles-artifact-export-for-cassandra
   namespace: veles
 spec:
-  replicas: 0
+  replicas: 1
   selector:
     matchLabels:
       app: veles-artifact-export-for-cassandra