Russian Drone Strikes Are Now Aimed at Ukraine's Data Centers

A wave of Russian jet-powered drone strikes has hit Ukrainian data centers and mobile networks, disrupting phone and Internet service for thousands of people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials are now calling for more air defense, warning the outages could threaten the country's digital economy and its capacity to keep resisting the invasion.

The strikes have concentrated on Kyiv since September 23, according to the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. Ukraine's digital transformation ministry reported that 100,000 households in the Kyiv region temporarily lost Internet access after the first round.

Tetiana Gaviuk, an analyst for Europe at ACLED, wrote on October 1 that attacks on telecom infrastructure are nothing new — fiber optic lines, cell towers and facilities belonging to mobile network companies have been damaged before. What stands out this time, she said, is concentration: multiple providers and facilities struck within days, which she reads as increased pressure on Ukraine's digital infrastructure.