Energy — 2026-09-26

Russia Strikes Ukraine Digital Economy With Attacks on ISPs and Datacentres Disrupting 100,000 Households

BLUFRussia's expansion of strike targeting into civilian digital infrastructure signals a deliberate effort to erode Ukraine's economic and administrative resilience ahead of winter.

Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv data centers and internet providers over September 23-24 disrupted service to roughly 100,000 households, Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation said 12345. NetBlocks identified Kyiv Link, Pautina, Utels and Crazy Network among affected networks, and providers Domonet, Kievnet, Faust, Etherlink and CityHost.UA also reported infrastructure damage 34Ukrainska Pravda" data-url="https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/09/24/8054936/" data-rt="primary" data-mbfc="mixed" data-otype="digital_news">6. Utels said one data center housing its core equipment lost power but restored most service within two hours, while Pautina reported nearly half its network down after damage to several sites 4. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its forces struck the New-Telco and United DC data centers, alleging they supported Ukrainian defense and intelligence agencies; Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed those two facilities were hit 4. The September 23 strikes killed two people and injured more than 40, according to Ukrainian officials 34.

Analysis
The strikes push Russia's infrastructure campaign beyond energy and transport into the digital layer underpinning banking, payments, and public services, raising the stakes for Kyiv's winter resilience planning. Utels' two-hour restoration signals built-in redundancy, while Pautina's loss of nearly half its network exposes uneven hardening regulators must address before further strikes land. Five independently reporting outlets converge closely on outage figures and provider-level damage. Russia's Defense Ministry claim of striking New-Telco and United DC over alleged defense-intelligence ties remains unconfirmed by Ukrainian authorities or independent technical evidence. If repeated, such a claim would recast the campaign as military-utility targeting rather than economic warfare against the digital sector broadly, and supplies Moscow a standing pretext for further strikes regardless of civilian impact.
6 sources
  1. Russia strikes at heart of Ukraine digital economy with attacks on ISPs and datacentres - The Guardian
  2. Russia puts Ukraine's internet in its sights as attacks on Kyiv infrastructure intensify - The Kyiv Independent
  3. "Killing Ukraine's internet would take nuclear or chemical weapons"—MiroHost founder whose data center Russia just destroyed - Euromaidan Press
  4. Kyiv internet providers report major outages after Russian attacks damage data centers - The Record (Recorded Future News)
  5. Russia's Attacks Disrupt Internet Services to 100,000 Households in Kyiv, Ukrainian Ministry Says - U.S. News & World Report (AP)
  6. Russian attack on Kyiv data centres disrupts internet - Ukrainska Pravda

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