Russia targets Ukraine’s Starlink data center in Kyiv drone strike
Russia‘s military struck a data center in Kyiv that supported Ukraine‘s use of Elon Musk‘s Starlink satellite internet service, the Russian Defense Ministry announced in the latest of a series of attacks on Ukrainian communications infrastructure this fall.
The ministry said its forces struck the Cosmonova data center in Kyiv, which provided mobile internet services and supported Starlink satellite communications for the Ukrainian armed forces.
A drone struck an office building in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district, where the Cosmonova facility is located, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian media outlets had reported damage at the site following overnight attacks between September 24 and September 25. A Ukrainian television channel also said it suspended broadcasts September 26 because of damage to data centers in the capital.
Five people were injured in the strikes on Kyiv, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
Ukraine’s reliance on Starlink
Ukraine’s government and military have relied on Starlink terminals for years to maintain internet connectivity and operate large fleets of drones on the battlefield.
The network, built and operated by Musk’s SpaceX, relies on thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide internet access across the country, including areas where fixed infrastructure has been destroyed.
A pattern of strikes on communications sites
Russian forces also struck a port facility in the Odesa region during the same overnight campaign. The Russian Defense Ministry said the facility was being used to bring weapons and ammunition into Ukraine from Europe.
A dry cargo ship carrying military supplies for Ukraine’s armed forces was hit in the Black Sea. Russian forces also struck the Novaya Pochta logistics center, where the ministry said military cargo was being stored.
The Cosmonova strike followed another attack a day earlier. Russia’s government said September 25 that it had targeted another data center in Kyiv, shortly before Ukrainian authorities announced new measures to protect data centers and communications sites nationwide.
Oleksandr Fedienko, the Ukrainian lawmaker who chairs Parliament’s subcommittee on cybersecurity and communications, said Kyiv does not believe the strikes have disrupted Ukrainian military operations.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said September 25 that the strikes on data centers represent one of Russia’s latest efforts to disrupt Ukraine’s economy.
Ukrainian media reports said the attacks have disrupted internet access across Kyiv, with several internet providers reporting outages and at least two companies saying their data centers were damaged.
Ukraine’s government said a Russian attack September 23 cut internet access for roughly 100,000 households in Kyiv. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the same day that Russia had targeted major Ukrainian data centers in an effort to disrupt the flow of information, including air raid alerts issued to civilians.
Suspected sabotage in Poland
A fire broke out late September 23 at a Starlink ground station south of Warsaw that helps carry internet traffic to Ukraine.
Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said September 24 that it appeared to be sabotage. Gawkowski told Polish public broadcaster TVP Info that the fire was deliberately designed to disable the station and disrupt internet access for various institutions, including the Ukrainian army. He said many indications suggested it fit into Russia’s new doctrine of attack.
The station, located in Wola Krobowska roughly 40 kilometers from Warsaw, is operated by state-owned telecommunications company Exatel and links Starlink satellites to ground networks in Poland and beyond.
The fire mainly damaged the station’s power supply, a distribution board and a generator. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and no one was hurt.
Investigators have been more cautious than Gawkowski. Preliminary findings pointed to a deliberate fire, but an electrical fault had not been ruled out. Polish police, backed by the country’s Internal Security Agency, were leading the inquiry.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Russia’s role had not been proven but that the fire should still be treated as part of hybrid warfare.
Seeking broader military use of Starlink
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, an ally of Ukraine with close ties to U.S. President Donald Trump, said September 25 that he had personally appealed to Musk to expand Ukraine’s military access to Starlink so Kyiv could strike equipment Russia uses to launch ballistic missiles.
Ukraine’s air defenses struggle to intercept those missiles and Kyiv has said its stock of interceptors capable of stopping them is running low ahead of winter, when Russia has previously targeted power plants and other critical sites.
The Financial Times reported that Ukraine had asked for permission to use Starlink-equipped drones against Russian ballistic missile launchers positioned more than 100 miles inside Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in August that Kyiv remained in talks with the United States over potential use of Starlink for operations reaching into Russia.
Moscow’s push to curb its own troops’ reliance on Starlink
Ukrainian military intelligence reported in early 2024 that Russian troops had adopted Starlink terminals on a widespread, “systemic” basis.
Musk denied that SpaceX sold Starlink services to Russia and said the company had cracked down on unauthorized Russian use of the network. Russian military bloggers said by early 2025 that Russian troops in some areas had begun losing access to Starlink.
Starlink added new security measures inside Ukraine so terminals not on an approved list would no longer function in the country. Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a statement at the time that the change was a direct response to Russian use of Starlink.
Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency, said that Russia had rolled out its own satellite alternative, known as Rassvet, faster than originally planned.
He told RBC Ukraine that once Russia deploys a full satellite constellation, the system will function like Starlink and that discussions were already underway on how to counter it.