From BBC News · · 3m
Russia targets Ukraine's data centres to disrupt ordinary life
President Zelensky says Russia is widening attacks on internet infrastructure to maximise disruption for civilians trying to work, study and stay connected.
In brief
President Zelensky says Russia is widening attacks on internet infrastructure to maximise disruption for civilians trying to work, study and stay connected. Russia has escalated attacks on Ukraine's data centres and internet providers, killing at least four people in Kyiv on Friday and causing widespread outages that…
Russia widens attacks on data centres
President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia has expanded its campaign to target Ukraine's data centres and internet providers, seeking to disrupt ordinary people's ability to stay connected, study and work.
“All this affects people's ability to stay connected, study, work.”
Drone strike kills four in Kyiv
On Friday a Russian drone hit a business centre in Kyiv, killing four people and damaging a data centre. A separate attack killed a fourteen-year-old boy, an Israeli citizen.
Russia confirms data centre targeting
Russia's defence ministry confirmed it targeted the Datagroup data centre site, saying it was being used by Ukrainian military intelligence. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said seven people were killed and fifty-nine injured in overnight attacks.
Widespread internet outages across Kyiv
About one hundred thousand households in Kyiv and the region suffered internet outages on Wednesday due to Russian strikes. In the north-western city of Lutsk, electronic information boards at public transport stops stopped working on Friday.
Ukraine's response to infrastructure damage
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says data centres are essential civilian infrastructure providing life-saving alerts about missile and drone threats. Zelensky said additional decisions were made to protect data centres and critical communications facilities.
“Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential - they save lives.”
Internet resilience despite attacks
Zelensky's top adviser on defence technologies admitted there may be local disruptions and internet service costs could increase. But Serhii Beskrestnov stressed Ukraine's internet network is highly decentralised, so the country will not be left without internet access.
Putin signals openness to peace talks
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Vladimir Putin said Moscow would give careful thought to resuming direct peace negotiations with Kyiv, citing Ukraine's recent attacks on Moscow. He stressed Ukraine must feel Russian retaliatory strikes.
“It's all possible.”
EU releases six point six billion euros
The European Union agreed to release six point six billion euros for Ukraine, including nine hundred million euros for its Military Assistance Mission and one billion euros for joint equipment procurement. EU diplomat Kaja Kallas called this bad news for Russia.
Poland investigates Starlink station fire
Poland's prosecutors opened an investigation into an arson attack on a Starlink satellite station in Wola Krobowska on Wednesday. The national prosecutor's office said there is reasonable suspicion the perpetrators acted on orders of Russian special services. Moscow has not commented.
Here's the gist
Russia has escalated attacks on Ukraine's data centres and internet providers, killing at least four people in Kyiv on Friday and causing widespread outages that Zelensky says target ordinary civilian life.
