Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, is expanding emergency power systems across its network as Russian strikes continue to target the country’s critical energy infrastructure, placing increasing pressure to maintain connectivity during wartime.
Oleksandr Komarov, CEO of Kyivstar, said the latest wave of attacks included strikes on nuclear-related energy substations, resulting in multiple deaths. The assault is part of a broader pattern of strikes aimed at disabling Ukraine’s power grid as winter approaches.
“Right now, we have more than 3,500 stationary generators connected to the network in real time,” Komarov told Reuters. “But the pressure on the energy infrastructure is growing because this tolerance gap decreases with every attack. The only answer we have is to increase the number of generators connected to the network.”
Continuous strikes have forced the operator to rethink network design, prioritising long-duration backup power and decentralised connectivity to avoid single points of failure. Kyivstar has spent the past two years reinforcing core and edge network infrastructure to withstand long-term outages.
Komarov said the objective is straightforward: “Our goal is to make sure that people can stay connected no matter what happens to the power grid.”
Kyivstar made headlines earlier this year when it became the first Ukrainian company to list on a U.S. stock exchange. The move was seen as a symbolic milestone for Ukraine’s corporate sector, signalling continued economic engagement with global markets despite the ongoing war.
Initial investor enthusiasm has since been tempered by escalating geopolitical risk and fluctuations linked to the conflict. Kyivstar and its parent company, Veon, have held discussions with institutional investors in the United States, many of whom have expressed the view that the company appears undervalued due to the wartime environment rather than its underlying financial performance.
The listing also raised strategic questions about ownership and control in the context of wartime economics. Veon retains a majority stake, but further share dilution remains possible, according to company executives.
Kyivstar also announced earlier this year that Ukraine is set to become the first country in Europe to deploy direct-to-cell mobile connectivity via SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. The agreement between Kyivstar and Elon Musk’s SpaceX will eventually allow standard consumer mobile phones to connect directly to satellites- bypassing damaged or offline ground-based infrastructure.
The deployment is expected to provide a new layer of network redundancy, particularly in remote regions or locations where energy infrastructure has been badly damaged. The technology is designed to allow phone signals to be routed via low-Earth orbit satellites instead of traditional cell towers, providing connectivity even if terrestrial networks are disrupted.
The move is being closely watched across Europe’s telecoms sector, where operators have been assessing satellite-to-mobile partnerships as potential complements to 5G coverage.
Connectivity is a lifeline
In response to the conflict, humanitarian organisation Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) deployed teams to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries on 28 February 2022. More than five million refugees (mostly women, children, and elderly) fled to Poland, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia in the early months of the war.
Since then, TSF has focused on restoring access to communications for displaced populations. It currently provides Wi-Fi coverage in 22 collective centres for internally displaced people across Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi, and Lviv regions, enabling hundreds of residents in each centre to stay in touch with family, access information, and continue education remotely.
Between March 2022 and June 2024, TSF also supported humanitarian organisations inside Ukraine, supplying emergency satellite lines and training on communications equipment to maintain operations during large-scale power outages.
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