Discretion advised: This story involves civilian casualties.
Russian airstrikes overnight and early Sunday, September 27, killed at least six people across Ukraine and targeted a number of major data centers in Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said, in the latest escalation in a campaign against the country's communications infrastructure.
The Casualties
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, three people were killed in the Zaporizhzhia region and a man died in Kyiv. Zelenskyy said civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities and residential buildings across at least eight regions, came under attack. Separately, Zelenskyy said Russia struck a Kyiv data center twice on Sunday morning, wounding two children and an adult. The Kyiv Independent, citing Ukrainian officials, reported a broader toll of 14 killed and 57 injured across Ukraine over the past day, with the Odesa region hit by what its governor called a "mass strike."
Kyivstar's Headquarters Hit
Russia also hit the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile service provider, the company told local media on Sunday. Kyivstar said its head office in Kyiv was struck, with no casualties reported. Russia's Defense Ministry said it also hit a data center belonging to Vodafone Ukraine, the country's second-largest mobile operator. Vodafone Ukraine did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. Moscow's ministry also claimed strikes on the data centers of internet provider Omega Telecom and on Kyivstar, along with a warehouse it said stored Western military aid and drone stockpiles in the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions. Those claims come from Russia's own defense ministry and have not been independently verified.
A Campaign Against Ukraine's Digital Infrastructure
Zelenskyy said on September 26 that Russia is waging a campaign against Ukrainian data centers, infrastructure, and communications to leave Ukrainians without internet access, communications, and digital services. According to Ukraine's digital ministry, attacks on internet providers' data centers over the past week caused service outages for about 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region. BBC reporting, cited by Yahoo, said an earlier drone strike hit a data center in Kyiv's central business district, killing four people in the area, and that some companies have begun migrating their data across the border to avoid disruption. A Ukrainian government official said the country's internet network is highly decentralized, but that people should still expect some local disruptions.
Ukraine's Response
Zelenskyy wrote that "American and other businesses, data centers, internet providers — for Russia, all ordinary life is simply a target," urging the world to respond. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha framed the strikes as an attack on safety infrastructure: "Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential — they save lives. This is crucial civilian infrastructure… It is not a military target."
The War's Other Front: Refineries
The strikes come as both sides intensify attacks on each other's energy infrastructure. Ukraine's defense ministry says it has struck six Russian refineries in a week, including the Ilsky refinery in the Krasnodar region, where the Fire Point drone maker said the attack damaged three primary oil-processing units and a tank farm and forced the plant to halt, and Lukoil's Perm refinery, where satellite imagery showed hits on process units. Officials in Russia's Krasnodar region said the overnight attack on the Seversky district killed three people and left about 26,000 residents without power.
What's Next
With both sides trading strikes on energy and communications infrastructure, and Ukrainian officials warning that Russia is widening its targeting to civilian digital systems, further attacks on telecom and data facilities appear likely. For continuing coverage, see the full Reuters report.