Strikes on data centers and internet providers in Kyiv
Place: KyivRegion: Kyiv and Kyiv regionautomatic summary
Where the versions diverge
All sides agree that data centers in Kyiv were hit. They differ on what these facilities were: the Russian Defense Ministry calls them communication and data-transfer hubs "in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces", while Ukrainian sources and Ukraine's foreign minister call them civilian infrastructure. Suspilne, citing an expert, writes that the communications of the Defense Forces were not affected; the collected material contains no independent verification of either claim.
What Russia reports
automatic summary In its daily briefings the Russian Defense Ministry describes the data centers hit in Kyiv (Datagroup, Cosmonova, Vodafone, Omega Telecom, UkrTelecom, De Novo and others) as facilities that provided communications, internet traffic and data transfer, including intelligence data, for the Ukrainian military. TASS and RIA retell these statements; TASS quotes an expert on disruption of command and control.
“в Киеве – дата-центр «Датагрупп», обеспечивавший обработку и передачу данных разведки в интересах ВСУ”
“The strikes hit the Cosmonova data center in the city of Kiev, which facilitated mobile internet operations and supported Starlink satellite communication systems for the Ukrainian army”
- ❗️ Вооруженные Силы Российской Федерации продолжают наносить удары беспилотными летательными аппаратами по… — Russian Defense Ministry (Telegram), 25 September, 16:39
- Russian Armed Forces hit Cosmonova data center in Kiev — TASS (tass.com), 26 September, 07:42
- ВС России поразили в Киеве ЦОД, обеспечивавший поддержку Starlink — RIA Novosti, 26 September, 07:02
- Russian forces hit Vodafone data center in Kiev — top brass — TASS (tass.com), 27 September, 09:25
- ВС России поразили в Киеве дата-центр, предоставляющий услуги связи ВСУ — RIA Novosti, 27 September, 07:27
What Ukraine reports
automatic summary Ukrainian outlets report damage to providers' data centers and outages of the internet, TV and online services. Suspilne quotes experts saying that the communications of the Defense Forces and state bodies were not affected by the strikes. Ukrainska Pravda relays Zelensky's words about two strikes on a data center in Kyiv on 27 September (three injured, including two children).
“Попри прицільні удари армії РФ по дата-центрах, завдати будь-якої шкоди звʼязку Сил оборони чи інших держструктур вони не змогли”
“Російські війська вранці 27 вересня двічі вдарили по дата-центру в Києві. Внаслідок першого удару постраждали троє людей, серед них двоє дітей.”
- Росія атакує дата-центри. Що буде з інтернетом? — Suspilne, 25 September, 15:18
- Зеленський: Росіяни вранці двічі вдарили по дата-центру в Києві — Ukrainska Pravda, 27 September, 10:29
- Через обстріл РФ був пошкоджений датацентр оператора зв'язку «Датагруп» — Suspilne, 25 September, 15:30
- Дата-центр Cosmonova не працюватиме: на сайті Суспільного не працюють плеєри — Suspilne, 26 September, 16:55
What independent sources report
automatic summary BBC writes that Russia confirmed it had targeted a data center site, saying it was used by Ukrainian military intelligence, while Ukraine's foreign minister calls such facilities civilian. Kyiv Independent describes disruptions at Ukrainian media outlets caused by the strikes on data centers in Kyiv.
“Russia confirmed it had targeted a data centre site, saying it was being used by Ukrainian military intelligence.”
“This is critical civilian infrastructure... It is not a military target.”
“Russian forces intensified attacks on data centers in Kyiv in September, causing internet outages across the capital and disrupting access to some online services.”
- Russia targeting 'ordinary life' with attacks on Ukraine's data centres, Zelensky says — BBC News, 25 September, 20:02
- Russian strikes on Kyiv data centers disrupt operations at several Ukrainian media outlets — Kyiv Independent, 26 September, 14:30
Confirmation
Confirmation: the sides contradict each other
The groups of sources give incompatible information (the model, reading the texts, flagged incompatible statements of fact; differing figures are shown in the card). The site does not decide who is right.
Automatic summary, may contain errors. Short summaries are written by a language model with no human review; titles, summaries and the “Where the versions diverge” block in English are an automatic translation of the Russian originals. Quotes are verbatim (checked by code), in their original language, with a link. The “Where the versions diverge” block only records differences in wording and figures and does not say who is right. Publication times are shown in Europe/Berlin time. Report an error in this card