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Russian strikes on data centers in Kiev could seriously complicate communications and restrict the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s access to critical information, military expert Yuri Knutov said.
According to Knutov, data centers located in the Ukrainian capital play a major role in supporting both civilian and military internet services, as well as digital telephony. At the same time, a significant share of the information used by Ukrainian forces may be stored on cloud servers outside the country.
The expert explained that Kiev’s data centers effectively function as intermediate network hubs through which data traffic is routed. Damage to or shutdown of these facilities could therefore disrupt access even to information stored on servers in Poland, the Netherlands and other countries.
Knutov said that communication problems and difficulties obtaining reliable information would become more severe as the number of operational data centers declines.
On the morning of October 6, the Russian Defense Ministry reported strikes by Geran drone crews from the Varyag brigade of unmanned systems forces against the Parkovy, Ukrtelecom, Giga and Podolsky data centers in several major Ukrainian cities.
According to the ministry, the facilities were used to process information for government and commercial services, including systems operating in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.