Russia strikes Ukraine's largest mobile provider, data centres in fresh barrage

Russia struck the headquarters of Ukraine's largest mobile operator Kyivstar in Kyiv on Sunday. Moscow said its forces had also hit a data centre belonging to Vodafone Ukraine as part of attacks on communications and logistics infrastructure.

Kyivstar confirmed that its head office in the Ukrainian capital was hit but said there were no casualties. The strike came as Russia intensified attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, including data centres, which is crucial for keeping communications and internet services running.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a data centre in Kyiv was struck twice on Sunday morning, leaving two children and an adult wounded.

The Russian Defence Ministry separately said its forces had targeted a Vodafone data centre in Kyiv, claiming the facility was used to provide communications and high-speed internet services to the Ukrainian military.

RUSSIA TARGETS UKRAINE'S DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The latest strikes mark another escalation in Russia's campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure, with communications networks increasingly caught up in the attacks.

Ukraine's digital ministry said Russian forces had targeted data centres belonging to Ukrainian internet providers during the past week. The attacks caused service disruptions, affecting about 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to the ministry.

The impact goes beyond the loss of mobile or internet connectivity.

Data centres host computer systems that allow companies, government agencies and other organisations to store and exchange information. For a country at war, communications infrastructure also has a direct bearing on the ability of authorities and emergency services to operate.

"Russia has targeted major Ukrainian data centres, seeking to disrupt the flow of information. Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential - they save lives," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Wednesday.

That makes the latest strikes particularly significant as Russia increasingly relies on large-scale drone and missile attacks against cities and critical infrastructure.

MOSCOW SAYS VODAFONE FACILITY WAS MILITARY-LINKED

Russia's Defence Ministry claimed the facility was one of the country's largest providers of mobile communications and high-speed internet services to the Ukrainian military, including for transmitting intelligence data.

Russia also said it struck the Zammler Group logistics centre in Krasilovka in the Kyiv region, alleging that Western military aid for Ukrainian forces was stored and distributed there.

In the Odesa region, Moscow said it hit a logistics centre in Ilyichovka where FPV drone interceptors were allegedly being stored.

The Russian military also claimed strikes on the headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy's Vostok naval base at the port of Kiliya, a Ukrainian State Border Guard Service outpost and four warehouses containing military equipment.

It further said two warehouses containing drones and related components in Mykolaiv were targeted, along with a dry cargo ship that Moscow alleged was carrying military and dual-use equipment to the port of Odesa.

While Moscow says it is targeting military-linked infrastructure, the expanding air campaign is also affecting civilian areas and businesses across Ukraine. Russian forces have increasingly used ballistic missiles, conventional drones and newer jet-powered drones in attacks that have hit businesses, logistics networks, Black Sea ports and other civilian infrastructure.

Friday's attacks on Kyiv were particularly deadly. Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed in the capital, while dozens were wounded.

PUTIN SAYS PEACE PROPOSALS REMAIN ON THE TABLE

The intensification of Russia's air campaign comes even as President Vladimir Putin says Moscow remains open to proposals for ending the war.

Speaking in St Petersburg on Friday, Putin said proposals for a settlement remained on the table but argued that Russia still needed to determine what was in its own interests before agreeing to any deal.

"They are the ones who started it. Everywhere, on every front. Are these playthings, child's play?" Putin said in remarks broadcast on Russian television.

"They should therefore be made to feel Russia's retaliatory strikes and understand that no provocative actions, no stirring up the situation to secure a result, will work. They're only making things worse for themselves."

Putin said Moscow had been ready to resume negotiations with Kyiv after Russia's parliamentary elections but accused Ukraine of carrying out attacks on Moscow and Russian polling stations.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has argued that its strikes on Russian territory are a response to Moscow's attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Zelenskyy has continued to call for direct negotiations to end the war. Putin said the proposals for a ceasefire and renewed talks were still available, but added that Russia would first have to consider its response to Ukrainian attacks.

UKRAINE STRIKES BACK INSIDE RUSSIA

Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian energy, defence and industrial facilities in an effort to disrupt Moscow's ability to finance and sustain the war.

Ukrainian drone strikes have reached targets far from the front lines, including oil facilities and industrial sites.

A recent Ukrainian drone attack forced the suspension of operations at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region. Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian forces had struck another oil facility in Perm and a defence enterprise in Ulyanovsk.

The competing campaigns have created a widening cycle of attacks in which infrastructure far from the battlefield is increasingly being drawn into the conflict.