Data centres hit in Kyiv

On September 27, Russian strikes hit the Kyiv headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine's largest mobile service provider, and a data centre belonging to Vodafone Ukraine, the country's second-largest network, Reuters reported. Kyivstar told Interfax Ukraine there were no casualties from the strike on its headquarters; Vodafone Ukraine did not respond to a request for comment.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia struck a data centre in Kyiv twice on the morning of September 27, wounding two children and an adult. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X: "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."

A week-long campaign

The strikes are part of a sustained campaign: Russian forces have heavily targeted data centres in Kyiv every day since September 23, according to the Institute for the Study of War's September 25 assessment. Russia's defence ministry first explicitly mentioned strikes on data centres and telecoms infrastructure on September 11. ISW assesses the campaign aims to degrade Ukraine's economy and digital infrastructure, though Ukraine is unlikely to face a complete internet blackout.

Data-centre strikes over the past week caused service outages for about 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to Ukraine's digital ministry, as reported by Reuters.

The wider exchange

The data-centre campaign is one front in a broader long-range exchange:

  • Overnight September 24–25, Russia launched 295 drones against Ukraine; Ukraine's Air Force reported downing 267, with strikes hitting commercial, residential, transport, government, logistics, telecom, energy, medical, and port infrastructure across six oblasts (ISW, September 25).
  • On September 24–25, Ukraine struck the Novoshakhtinsky oil refinery in Rostov Oblast (capacity roughly 7.5 million tons per year) and the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez refinery in Perm City, Perm Krai (roughly 13 million tons per year, about 1,449 km from the Ukrainian border). Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar acknowledged the Novoshakhtinsky refinery temporarily halted operations, and Zelenskyy confirmed both strikes (ISW, September 25).
  • Ukraine's General Staff also reported strikes overnight September 24–25 on military-industrial plants in Ulyanovsk, Tula, and Voronezh oblasts, including the Iskra Research and Production Plant, which produces Pantsir-S1 vehicles and semiconductors, and plants producing fuel for Iskander and Kh-59M2/M2A missiles (ISW, September 25).

Air defences and diplomacy

On September 25, Zelenskyy stated that US President Donald Trump had made a "final decision" to grant Ukraine licenses to produce unspecified types of Patriot air-defence interceptor missiles, with negotiations underway for both PAC-3 and PAC-2 licenses. Trump had not confirmed the decision as of September 25, ISW noted.

On the diplomatic front, Zelenskyy said on September 26 that Washington had proposed a meeting of Russian, Ukrainian, and US officials in the United Arab Emirates. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the same day that every settlement proposal remained on the table, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking at the UN General Assembly, accused Europe of thwarting talks and said Moscow would achieve its military aims "no matter the circumstances," Al Jazeera reported.

Casualties on September 26

At least 10 people were killed on both sides on September 26, according to local officials cited by Al Jazeera: Russian attacks killed two women in Zaporizhzhia (per the regional military administration) and two people in Sumy (per local officials), while Ukrainian strikes killed three people in Russia's Krasnodar region (per Governor Veniamin Kondratyev) and three in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia (per Moscow-installed head Yevgeny Balitsky).

What to treat with caution

Russian defence ministry strike claims are routinely flagged by Reuters as unverifiable — Reuters noted it could not independently verify the claims in its September 27 reporting. Separately, a Russian commander claimed forces seized 10 settlements and over 250 square kilometres in Sumy Oblast over the summer of 2026, but ISW's observed evidence supports only 2 settlements and 36.78 square kilometres between June 1 and August 31. Claims from either belligerent about battlefield results should be read as claims, not confirmed fact.