Abstract:
Infrastructure strikes in the Russia-Ukraine conflict are taking a new escalating direction. Recently, Russia has begun to include Ukrainian data centers and core Internet nodes as key targets. This has affected the Internet services of approximately 100,000 households in Kiev and surrounding areas, and has also triggered widespread concern about the security of digital infrastructure in modern warfare.
On September 25, a Russian drone attacked a business center in the Solomensky district of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The attack killed four people and caused damage to a data center located in the building. The facility belongs to Ukrainian telecommunications company Datagroup.
After the incident, Datagroup stated that no employees were injured and customer data was not affected. The company said operations have been switched to backup sites and technical teams are currently assessing the damage and restoring damaged infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Zelensky later stated that such attacks directly affect people's ability to maintain communications, study and work. He pointed out that Russia is constantly escalating the scope of its attacks, and US companies, companies from other countries, data centers and Internet service providers have all become targets. In his view, for Russia, ordinary people's daily lives themselves are under attack.
Russia subsequently admitted to launching attacks on related facilities, but claimed that the data center was responsible for transmitting intelligence and processing military information to the Ukrainian military, and therefore regarded it as a legitimate target of attack.
In addition to Datagroup facilities, the Russian Ministry of Defense also stated that it has recently carried out strikes against a number of communications and data infrastructure-related facilities such as New Telco, United DC, Kyivstar and Parkovyi.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation revealed that after a previous attack on communication facilities, about 100,000 households in Kiev and surrounding areas experienced Internet connection problems. The attack damaged some key equipment of Internet service providers Pavutyna and UTELS, causing widespread network failure.
Many Internet service providers have been affected to varying degrees. Among them, UTELS's data center used to carry core network equipment lost power for a time, affecting network operations; Pavutyna said that one of its data centers was hit and a large number of user services were interrupted; other operators also reported that core nodes, switching equipment and communication optical cables were damaged.
What is more noteworthy is that some Internet exchange centers themselves have also become targets. Since many operators share the same data centers and switching facilities, the destruction of one node will often cause multiple service providers to be affected at the same time, creating a chain reaction.
Some companies have already begun to take emergency measures. According to reports, some Ukrainian companies are migrating data and key business systems to offshore data centers to reduce the risk of future attacks and ensure the continuous operation of core businesses.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Serbiga said that data centers and network facilities are critical civilian infrastructure. In addition to normal Internet services, air defense warnings, missile warnings, banking systems, online payments, corporate operations, and government services all rely on these network platforms to maintain. In particular, he pointed out that information systems that quickly deliver warnings about missile and drone threats can directly save lives.
However, some Ukrainian officials said that the country's Internet architecture itself is highly decentralized, so although there will be obvious interruptions in local areas, the risk of complete paralysis nationwide is relatively limited.
Analysts believe that this round of attacks on data centers marks a new stage in modern warfare. In the past, military installations, power systems, and transportation networks were often key targets, but as the digital economy and online services have become an important part of national operations, data centers and Internet exchange nodes have also begun to be regarded as infrastructure with strategic value.
With the continuous popularization of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital government services, data centers are no longer just commercial facilities, but have become important underlying systems that support the operation of society. The series of attacks in Ukraine have once again highlighted the vulnerability and importance of digital infrastructure in modern conflicts.
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