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Russia Escalates Attacks on Ukraine's Internet Infrastructure
Confirmed
In Short: Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine's internet infrastructure, targeting data centers and communication nodes in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast.
Around 100,000 households in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast experienced internet problems following a Sept. 23 drone attack, as specialists worked to assess the damage and restore stable service.
Anatolii Frolenkov, a representative of the 1-IX internet exchange point, said, 'This is the beginning of a phase where, since September, they have started taking it out systematically.
Several providers reported direct damage to their infrastructure, with Crazy Network stating a strike damaged a central internet traffic exchange in Kyiv, disrupting internet and telephone services in the capital and in Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.
Hosting provider MiroHost said its data center in Ukraine was destroyed in the attack, company founder Oleksandr Olshansky told dev.ua.
Russia has targeted major Ukrainian data centers, seeking to disrupt the flow of information. Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential – they save lives, Sybiha said.
Despite the recent damage, Frolenkov said knocking out internet access across Ukraine would be extremely difficult. Providers can limit the impact of individual strikes by duplicating network equipment, maintaining backup communications routes, and distributing infrastructure across different locations, including outside Ukraine.
The internet will not disappear completely, Frolenkov said.
Russian strikes have hit multiple data centers and internet providers in Kyiv over the past two days, disrupting service for around 100,000 households as Moscow expands its attacks on Ukraine's internet infrastructure.
Frolenkov added that attacks on Ukraine's communications infrastructure are not new, pointing to earlier strikes on energy and telecommunications networks.
Russia's attacks on Kyiv's internet infrastructure are part of a broader strategy to destabilize life in Ukraine and terrorize civilians, as Moscow fails to achieve its battlefield goals.
What this adds
Russia's fuel oil exports fell to 591,000 barrels a day in August, down from the average 860,000 bpd in 2025, according to Kpler data.
The US hasn’t imported Russian diesel since 2022, when Moscow invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine has been increasingly successful in hitting Russian energy infrastructure, with deep strike drone attacks hitting 30-40% of Russian refineries.
Russia banned exports of diesel fuel in response to Ukrainian attacks on its energy infrastructure, leading to significant shortages at the pumps across Russia.
Background
Russia intensified its attacks on Ukraine's internet infrastructure, targeting data centers and communication nodes in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast.
What's confirmed
- Ukraine's Digital Transformation Ministry said around 100,000 households in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast experienced internet problems following the Sept. 23 drone attack, as specialists worked to assess the damage and restore stable service.
- "This is the beginning of a phase where, since September, they have started taking it out systematically," Anatolii Frolenkov, a representative of the 1-IX internet exchange point, told the Kyiv Independent.
- Several providers reported direct damage to their infrastructure.
- Hosting provider MiroHost said the data center in Ukraine that housed its infrastructure was destroyed in the attack, company founder Oleksandr Olshansky told dev.ua.
- Despite the recent damage, Frolenkov said knocking out internet access across Ukraine would be extremely difficult.
- Russian strikes have hit multiple data centers and internet providers in Kyiv over the past two days, disrupting service for around 100,000 households as Moscow expands its attacks on Ukraine's internet infrastructure.
- Frolenkov added that attacks on Ukraine's communications infrastructure are not new, pointing to earlier strikes on energy and telecommunications networks.
- Russia’s fuel oil exports fell to 591,000 barrels a day in August, down from the average 860,000 bpd in 2025, according to Kpler data spanning back to 2017.
What's still developing
- President Donald Trump said that Russia had "lost control" of its diesel industry due to the ongoing fighting with Ukraine and called for an end to the war.
- "Russia has unfortunately lost control of its Diesel Oil Industry due to its War with Ukraine," he posted on Truth Social.
- The market is now fully braced for Brent crude to trade above $100/barrel on a sustained basis." "Saudi Arabia has halted operations at several southern energy facilities after attacks triggered fires and caused injuries, escalating risks to regional oil supply.
- The strikes follow repeated Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure, including the 400,000 barrel/day Jazan refinery, which had already been offline since July." "The disruption comes as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain constrained by the U.S.-Iranian conflict, increasing the risk of simultaneous supply losses across key Middle East export routes.
- Notable to hear President Trump announce that he had been in contact with President Zelensky of Ukraine to call on him to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
- Trump suggested that these Ukrainian attacks had been behind the ramp up in diesel prices in recent weeks.
- This appeared to repeat a narrative from Treasury Secretary Bessent that it was Ukrainian attacks on Russia, and not the war effort on Iran, which had driven US diesel prices to record prices - over $6 a gallon.
- It’s true that Ukraine has been increasingly successful in hitting Russian energy infrastructure.
- It is hard to determine how much capacity has been taken out of action, but it’s been so significant that Russia, which was a significant diesel and refined product exporter, has banned exports.
- There have, meanwhile, been significant shortages at the pumps across Russia.
- Trump might be eager to deflect blame for the global spike in energy, and particularly from the war in Iran, but he cannot escape from some of the blame even for Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.
- Russia's attack resumed when ballistic missiles targeted Ukraine's capital at around 2:13 a.m. local time with "two big explosions in quick succession, then another after about a minute," War Editor Chris York said.