Russian Drone Strike Targets Kyivstar Headquarters in Ukraine

Russia has launched a renewed, major attack targeting Ukraine’s digital and telecommunications infrastructure, reportedly aiming to cripple the country’s communications network. A drone strike hit the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile phone and internet service provider, in Kyiv.

The company confirmed the attack to local media on Sunday, September 27.

Kyivstar said there were no casualties despite the direct strike on its headquarters. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed that a key data centre belonging to Vodafone Ukraine, the country’s second-largest mobile network operator, had also been hit.

Civilian Casualties and Disrupted Communications

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that two consecutive missile strikes hit a data centre in Kyiv on Sunday, injuring three civilians, including two children.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, a series of attacks targeting internet service providers’ infrastructure over the past week has left approximately 100,000 households in Kyiv and surrounding areas without electricity and network connectivity.

Strategic Objectives and Response

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X that Russia was strategically destroying data centres, primarily to disrupt the broadcasting of advance warnings about incoming missile and drone attacks.

He said that interrupting the flow of life-saving information during emergencies had become Moscow’s new military strategy. In this new phase of the conflict, Russian forces are reportedly intensifying efforts to cripple Ukraine’s information technology and communications sectors, alongside targeting military objectives.

//DBTech/BMT/OR//