President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of widening its war on Ukraine to include the digital infrastructure that underpins daily life, saying strikes on data centres and internet providers are designed to cause maximum disruption for civilians rather than simply damage military assets.
In a social media post on Friday, Zelensky said Moscow was "constantly expanding its escalation operation" and that "American and other businesses, data centres, internet providers – for Russia, all ordinary life is simply a target." He added: "It is important that the world responds to all of this and that Russia feels the response to its terror."
The remarks came after a Russian drone hit a business centre in Kyiv on Friday, killing four people and damaging a data centre operated by Datagroup. A separate attack killed a 14-year-old boy. Israel's foreign ministry said the boy was an Israeli citizen. Later on Friday, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said seven people had been killed and 59 injured in overnight Russian attacks across the capital.
Russia confirmed it had targeted the Datagroup site, saying it was being used by Ukrainian military intelligence. The Russian defence ministry also said that over the past few days its forces had struck a number of data processing and telecommunications centres in Ukraine, including New-Telco, United DC, Kyivstar and Parkovyi.
The attacks have already had visible effects on civilian life. About 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region suffered internet outages on Wednesday after strikes. In the north-western city of Lutsk, electronic information boards at public transport stops were not working on Friday, with the city council saying this was "due to damage caused by a Russian attack on data centres in Kyiv."
Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Moscow was trying to disrupt the flow of "life-saving information" by targeting data centres. "Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential - they save lives. This is critical civilian infrastructure... It is not a military target. It is essential to keeping everyday life functioning," he said.
The attack on Datagroup's facility, housed in the Inkom business centre, has become a symbol of the broader campaign. Footage of the damaged building has since been verified by the BBC. Datagroup said its specialists were assessing the damage after the daytime strike, but that all services "continue to operate from backup sites."
Still, the company's assurances have not erased wider concern about the vulnerability of Ukraine's digital backbone. Some firms have already begun moving data from damaged servers to facilities abroad, reflecting fears that repeated strikes could force businesses to rethink how and where they store critical information.
Zelensky's top adviser on defence technologies, Serhii Beskrestnov, acknowledged on Thursday that "there may be local disruptions" after Russian attacks and that the cost of internet services could rise to cover repair bills. But he stressed that Ukraine's internet network is highly decentralised and that the country "will not be left without internet access."
Late on Friday, Zelensky said "additional decisions" had been taken at a meeting with Ukraine's top defence and security officials to protect data centres and other critical communications facilities and ensure their continuous operation. The move underscores how the war is increasingly being fought not only with missiles and drones, but against the systems that allow Ukrainians to communicate, receive warnings and continue working and studying.
The latest strikes also fit a broader pattern. In recent weeks, Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukraine's energy and railway infrastructure, seeking to inflict maximum damage as winter approaches. That campaign has already raised fears of renewed pressure on heating, transport and emergency services, while the new focus on digital infrastructure threatens to compound the strain by hitting the networks that connect those services to the public.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has continued its own long-range campaign against Russian oil refineries and logistics hubs, saying they support Moscow's war effort. The escalating exchange suggests both sides are now targeting the infrastructure that sustains national resilience, with civilians increasingly caught in the middle.
For Zelensky, the message was clear: the war is no longer confined to the battlefield. By striking data centres, internet providers and communications systems, he said, Russia is trying to make everyday life itself a target.