"The Russians are attacking our digital network infrastructure," he admitted.
"However, Ukraine possesses an extraordinarily decentralized topology of internet channels; therefore, the country as a whole — across oblasts and major cities — will not be left without access. Localized disruptions are possible, but providers will, I hope, remediate them swiftly."
At the same time, Beskrestnov warned that retail internet subscription rates could see future increases. He explained that price adjustments may become necessary to help commercial internet service providers (ISPs) offset the capital expenditures required to rebuild destroyed routing nodes and technical infrastructure.
"We must not succumb to enemy psychological campaigns or panic," Beskrestnov added.
"They tried to frighten us with threats of food shortages, then fuel shortages, and now they are attempting to terrify us with the total disappearance of the internet."
Russian Strikes on Data Centers and Provider Infrastructure
Sept. 23 drone assaults on IT infrastructure: Russian forces launched waves of Shahed strike drones across the capital throughout Sept. 23, striking two gas stations in Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, Ukrzaliznytsia rail facilities, commercial warehouses, an office park, and data centers. The Ministry of Digital Transformation confirmed that strikes against Kyiv data centers caused connectivity drops for roughly 100k subscribers across Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast.
Sept. 24 combined missile barrage: Russian military units followed up with an overnight ballistic missile and drone assault on Sept. 24, killing two civilians and injuring eight others. Impact sites and debris falls were confirmed across Darnytskyi, Solomianskyi, Podilskyi, Obolonskyi, and Dniprovskyi districts, including direct exterior damage to a maternity hospital in Podilskyi district.
Traffic exchange node destroyed: In the Sept. 24 assault, Russian ordnance scored direct hits on telecommunications hosting facilities. ISP Crazy Network confirmed that a missile struck a central traffic exchange data center in Kyiv, severing connectivity for customers across Vinnytsia, Kyiv, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.
Widespread provider damage: The strikes also damaged the primary data center of the Pavutyna network, the core node of Etherlink, as well as server operations serving KIEVNET, Domonet, and FAUST. In addition, the bombardment destroyed a major commercial data center housing the server clusters of web hosting provider MiroHost and damaged equipment belonging to CityHost.UA.