Attacks on Data Centers: Will Ukraine Be Left Without Internet?
Russia is attempting to disrupt Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, particularly data centers, but a complete loss of internet access in Ukraine is currently unlikely. This is the view of Serhiy Denysenko, director of the Cyberlab Computer Forensics Laboratory. According to him, Ukraine has a large number of data centers, internet service providers, and mobile networks, and some of the data and equipment are actually located outside the country.
Russia is trying to strike not only at Ukraine’s energy sector and conventional infrastructure. The digital infrastructure—on which the internet, mobile communications, websites, online services, and government systems depend—has become a separate target.
Recent attacks have already shown that strikes on data centers can have very tangible consequences. For example, following the Russian attack on September 23 in Kyiv and the surrounding region, approximately 100,000 households experienced internet outages. One of the capital’s data centers, which housed the core equipment of internet service providers, was damaged in that attack.
On September 26, following a second attack, the Kyiv-based Cosmonova data center ceased operations. The company reported significant damage and stated that the facility itself would no longer be operational. At the same time, specialists began transferring some services and restoring them at other locations. Against this backdrop, the question arose as to whether Russia might go further and attempt to completely cut Ukraine off from the internet.
According to Serhiy Denysenko, director of the Cyberlab Computer Forensics Laboratory, such a scenario is currently unlikely. “The Russians want to create a blackout by completely cutting off telecommunications services. This is an element of cyberwarfare. They are also using physical attacks on our infrastructure, including the destruction of data centers. At the same time, the current situation is not critical,” the expert said.
According to him, Russia is trying to create conditions under which Ukrainians will lose access to telecommunications services. To do this, they are using not only cyberattacks but also strikes on physical facilities. But Ukraine’s internet infrastructure is not concentrated in a single location. According to Denisenko, this is precisely the main safeguard against a complete blackout. “We have a sufficient number of data centers and a large number of internet service providers, so connectivity is maintained. Targeted strikes on data centers will not cause significant damage to communications or to our citizens’ internet access,” he noted.
Why a single strike cannot shut down the entire internet
The internet in Ukraine does not rely on a single central server or a single large data center. Data passes through many different networks and facilities, and providers have their own infrastructure. Therefore, even if a single facility is destroyed or damaged, this does not automatically mean the internet will go down nationwide.
Mobile carriers play an additional role. If a person experiences problems with their home internet, in some cases they can still access the network via a mobile network. “Even if a particular provider is under attack, we still have mobile carriers. Large providers and operators also do not keep all their equipment in one place,” Denysenko explained.
Part of Ukrainian companies’ infrastructure may be located abroad. This applies to both data centers and data storage systems. Ukrainian companies use facilities in various European countries and other parts of the world. Government agencies may also store certain data and backup systems outside Ukraine. This means that even the destruction of several Ukrainian facilities would not necessarily result in the loss of the data itself or a complete shutdown of the service.
How Data Centers Are Protected
To mitigate risks, operators and the government employ several protective measures simultaneously. One of them is the physical fortification of the facilities themselves. This involves protective structures and other solutions designed to minimize the impact of a potential attack. Additionally, part of the infrastructure can be moved underground or located in areas that are more difficult to target.
Another important principle is data redundancy. Information is not stored in a single location; instead, additional copies are created. So-called mirrored data centers are used for this purpose. If one facility fails, its data can remain accessible at another. “If one burns down, the information remains in the other,” Denisenko explained, describing how such a system works. Therefore, the destruction of a single data center does not in itself mean the destruction of all the information stored there.
Some of the data is already outside Ukraine
Another layer of protection is storing data abroad. According to Denisenko, Ukrainian companies have long been using foreign data centers. This allows them to continue operating even if Ukrainian infrastructure is damaged.
The same applies to some government systems. For their backup storage, facilities in other countries with the necessary level of physical security and cybersecurity can be used.
However, it is not always easy to determine exactly where a specific company’s or government agency’s data is located. The information may be distributed across several locations and even different countries. Therefore, it is not enough for Russia to simply strike a few well-known targets.
Ukraine Is Already Strengthening the Protection of Its Digital Infrastructure
Attacks on data centers have forced Ukrainian authorities to take specific steps to strengthen protection in this area. On September 29, the Kyiv City State Administration reported that additional measures are being taken in Kyiv to protect data centers from Russian attacks. The authorities are also seeking technical solutions to help ensure uninterrupted communication services.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a decision to protect data centers and other critical communications facilities. The specific aim was to ensure the uninterrupted operation of this infrastructure even during Russian attacks. On September 29, the government also allocated 518.3 million hryvnia to strengthen the backup information systems of government agencies. The funds are to be used for backup sites, cloud infrastructure, servers, software, and backup and recovery systems.
This is necessary precisely so that government digital services can be quickly restored in the event that equipment is damaged by shelling or cyberattacks.
Risks cannot be completely ruled out
At the same time, the expert does not claim that there is no risk at all. Russia may continue to target telecommunications infrastructure and attempt to identify vulnerabilities in the system. Sabotage against digital infrastructure outside Ukraine also poses a separate threat.
But even in such a case, simultaneously taking all networks and data centers offline is significantly more difficult than damaging a single facility. “Precision strikes” can cause localized problems—ranging from disruptions in a specific provider’s service to the temporary unavailability of certain online services. This is exactly what Ukraine has already experienced following the latest strikes on data centers.
However, to cause a complete internet blackout, Russia would have to simultaneously strike a significant amount of physical infrastructure and disrupt the operation of various networks, which are currently distributed among many operators and countries. Therefore, according to Denisenko’s assessment, a complete and prolonged loss of internet access in Ukraine is currently unlikely. At the same time, isolated outages, problems accessing specific services, and localized disruptions following attacks are entirely possible.
Ukraine is already responding to this new threat: it is strengthening the security of data centers, transferring some data to backup environments, and creating additional sites for the recovery of government systems.
