According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, around 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region experienced internet connectivity issues following attacks on 23 September.
Repair teams have been working to assess the damage and restore services.
Among the companies affected was Utels, which said one of the Kyiv data centres containing core network equipment was damaged and lost power during the attack.
The provider was able to restore services to most customers within around two hours, but the incident highlighted the impact that damage to key infrastructure can have on connectivity.
Other providers have since reported damage to their own networks. Domonet reported that switching equipment was affected, but that repair work was expected to be completed by the evening of 24 September.
Kievnet said that one of the data centres supporting part of its network was damaged, with customers in central Kyiv experiencing temporary outages.
Provider Faust also confirmed infrastructure damage and said it was working to restore services.
Internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks reported partial connectivity losses across several providers, including Kyiv Link, Pautina, Utels and Crazy Network.
Some operators, however, experienced more significant disruption. Pautina said several infrastructure sites were damaged, temporarily affecting a large portion of its network. Crazy Network reported that outages impacted customers in Kyiv as well as parts of Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi, due to damage at a central internet traffic exchange facility.
The attacks also caused operational issues for cloud service provider Fex.net, while Ukrainian media also reported that equipment belonging to several hosting and technology companies had been damaged or destroyed.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had targeted the New-Telco and United DC data centres, which they claimed were supporting Ukrainian military operations.
Ukrainian officials did not confirm that the sites were hit, and instead Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha commented: “This is critical civilian infrastructure that ensures people can access life-saving information. It is not a military target. It is essential to keeping everyday life functioning.”
The incident follows a number of previous attacks that have affected Ukraine’s communications infrastructure. Telecommunications operators and data centre providers have increasingly focused on building resilience into their networks through backup systems, redundant routes and distributed infrastructure to minimise disruption when individual facilities are affected.
The Russo-Ukrainian war is not the only event highlighting the vulnerability of digital infrastructure in times of conflict. The Iran war has also impacted connectivity in the Middle East; last week Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported that it couldn’t restore access to both its Bahrain data centre and one of its data-hosting zones in the UAE.
While services in Ukraine have largely been restored, the latest outages demonstrate the importance of data centres and network facilities in maintaining connectivity during periods of disruption.
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