Zelensky says Russia expands strikes to target Ukrainian data centres and internet providers
President Zelensky said Russia is widening attacks to hit data centres and internet services, aiming to disrupt civilian communications, while Ukrainian officials emphasized the essential civilian nature of the infrastructure.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has broadened its campaign to strike Ukraine's data centres and internet providers, seeking to disrupt everyday life. On Friday a Russian drone hit a business centre in Kyiv, killing four people and damaging a data centre operated by Datagroup; a separate strike killed a 14-year-old boy, identified by Israel as an Israeli citizen.
Russia confirmed it targeted the Datagroup site, claiming it was used by Ukrainian military intelligence, and said it had also hit other data processing and telecommunications facilities such as New-Telco, United DC, Kyivstar and Parkovyi. About 100,000 households in Kyiv and surrounding areas experienced internet outages after the attacks, and some companies are relocating data to servers abroad.
In the north-western city of Lutsk, electronic information boards at public transport stops were offline, which local officials attributed to damage from the Kyiv data-centre attacks. Zelensky posted on social media that Russia is expanding its escalation operation against American and other businesses, data centres and internet providers, urging the international community to respond.
Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha warned that targeting data centres threatens the flow of "life-saving information" such as missile and drone alerts, which he said are essential civilian infrastructure and not legitimate military targets. A senior defence-technology adviser acknowledged possible local disruptions and a potential rise in internet service costs to cover repair expenses, while another official stressed that Ukraine's highly decentralised network would keep the country online.
Datagroup said its specialists were assessing damage but that services continued from backup sites. The Russian defence ministry later confirmed the strike on the Datagroup facility and reiterated its recent focus on data-processing and telecommunications centres. The attacks come as Moscow intensifies strikes on energy and railway infrastructure ahead of winter, while Ukrainian forces have increased hits on Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs.
Separately, Polish prosecutors opened an investigation into an alleged arson attack on a Starlink satellite station in Wola Krobowska.