Story perspectives

Russia hits Kyivstar data center, cutting internet for 100,000

By Drooid · Sep 27, 2026, 6:04 PM UTC · How we work

Center

Civilian injuries outage

Russia struck Kyivstar’s headquarters, Ukraine’s largest mobile provider, in Kyiv on Sunday, September 27 2026, amid a broader telecom-infrastructure campaign.
The defence ministry said drones hit the Datagroup site, alleging it aided military intelligence, and struck a Vodafone Ukraine data centre used by armed forces.
Kyivstar reported no casualties and that services kept running from backup facilities.
President Zelensky said two children and an adult were injured and 100,000 households lost internet.

Left

Starlink sabotage claim

Russia struck Kyivstar’s headquarters, Ukraine’s largest mobile provider, in Kyiv on September 27 2026, damaging its main data centre.
The attack jeopardized civilian communications and essential services for thousands, heightening winter-time vulnerability.
Poland reported a Starlink satellite station serving Ukraine was set ablaze, labeling it Moscow-linked sabotage.
Ukraine’s transformation ministry noted the decentralized internet network limits prolonged citywide outages despite repeated strikes.

Blindspot

President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russian strikes hit the Kyiv data centre twice, causing injuries to two children and an adult civilian.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Center-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Left-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

On 23 December 2015 Russian-linked Sandworm hackers used BlackEnergy malware to cut power for about 230,000 Ukrainian customers, marking the first successful grid cyberattack. A year later a similar breach hit Kyiv’s electricity system, and in September 2026 Russian strikes hit Kyivstar’s headquarters, Vodafone Ukraine’s data centre, and a Starlink hub in Poland, echoing the 2015 tactic of targeting critical infrastructure.

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Civilian injuries outage

Russia struck Kyivstar’s headquarters, Ukraine’s largest mobile provider, in Kyiv on Sunday, September 27 2026, amid a broader telecom-infrastructure campaign.
The defence ministry said drones hit the Datagroup site, alleging it aided military intelligence, and struck a Vodafone Ukraine data centre used by armed forces.
Kyivstar reported no casualties and that services kept running from backup facilities.
President Zelensky said two children and an adult were injured and 100,000 households lost internet.

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