A surge in Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian data centers has increasingly disrupted mobile phone and internet services for thousands of people. Now Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials are warning of the need for more air defense capabilities, as such telecommunications outages could threaten Ukraine’s digital economy and undermine the country’s ongoing resistance to the Russian invasion.
Russian attacks on Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure have been focused on the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, since September 23, according to the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation reported that 100,000 homes in the kyiv region suffered temporary internet outages due to those initial attacks, and Russia has only intensified its strike campaign against Ukraine’s major data centers and mobile networks in recent weeks.
“Russian attacks on Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure are not new, as attacks and bombings previously damaged fiber optic lines, cell towers and facilities belonging to mobile network companies,” Tetiana Gaviuk, European analyst at ACLED, said in an October 1 post. “However, recent concentrated attacks on kyiv’s data centers and telecommunications networks stand out because multiple providers and facilities were hit in a matter of days, indicating Russia’s growing pressure on Ukraine’s digital infrastructure.”
These repeated attacks could undermine telecommunications networks that support Ukraine’s banks, payment systems and public services, according to warnings from officials and industry figures, The Guardian reported.
Russia’s strike campaign
Russia has launched massive missile and drone attacks against Ukraine’s power grid infrastructure, railway stations, seaports and even residential apartment buildings since the first year of its full-scale invasion in 2022. But those long-range attacks have become even more damaging this year, as they have depleted Ukraine’s supply of missile interceptors, and Russia has also upgraded many of its one-way attack drones into faster, harder-to-shoot aircraft-powered drones.
For example, Zelenskyy stated on October 4 that Ukrainian air defenses currently intercept more than 85 percent of conventional Shahed-type drones originally developed by Iran and supplied to Russia. But those interception rates drop to only 50 or 60 percent when it comes to Shahed drones powered by newer, faster aircraft.
