Russian Drone Strikes Hit Kyiv Data Centres, Cutting Internet to 100,000 Homes

Russian drone attacks on Wednesday disrupted internet services for roughly 100,000 households across Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukraine's digital ministry said, as repair crews worked to assess damage from strikes that stretched over several hours.

The ministry said in a statement on Telegram that the attacks began in the morning and continued into the early afternoon, and that experts were evaluating the extent of the damage while carrying out repairs.

Russia's Defence Ministry, posting on Telegram, said its forces had targeted a number of data centres as well as logistics and warehouse sites that it described as being used for the benefit of the Ukrainian military. It named two centres it said were struck in Kyiv and two logistics facilities in the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes on the data centres put lives at risk. Writing on X, he said Russia had targeted major Ukrainian data centres in an effort to disrupt the flow of information, and stressed that rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential because they save lives.

Sybiha described the facilities as critical civilian infrastructure that ensures people can reach life-saving information, adding that they are not military targets and are essential to keeping everyday life functioning.

The two sides gave differing accounts of the targets, with Kyiv framing the sites as civilian infrastructure and Moscow asserting a military purpose. The disruption left tens of thousands of households without internet access as repair work continued.