Russia Widens Attacks to Hit Ukraine Data Centres, Internet Providers
President Zelensky says Russia has expanded its strikes to target Ukraine's digital backbone, as Trump approves Patriot missile production for Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russia has widened its military campaign to strike Ukraine’s data centres and internet service providers, marking an expansion of the Kremlin’s infrastructure targeting that now extends into the country’s digital backbone.
The disclosure, reported by BBC, came as Zelensky also announced that President Donald Trump has given final approval for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air-defense missiles domestically — a development that could significantly bolster Kyiv’s capacity to defend the infrastructure now under attack.
Digital Networks Become Targets
Russia’s reported strikes on data centres and internet providers represent an escalation in targeting beyond power plants and fuel depots that have been the focus of previous Russian infrastructure campaigns. Digital infrastructure underpins Ukraine’s banking system, emergency communications, and elements of military command and logistics.
Zelensky characterized the strikes as a deliberate widening of Moscow’s campaign to disable Ukraine’s civilian and governmental communications networks. The International Atomic Energy Agency continued monitoring conditions at Ukraine’s nuclear facilities during this period, issuing Update 368 in Director General Rafael Grossi’s ongoing assessment of the nuclear safety situation in Ukraine.
Prior Russian campaigns focused heavily on Ukraine’s power grid, leaving large portions of the country without electricity through successive winters. Attacks on data centres and internet exchange points — which depend on reliable electricity to operate — would compound those existing vulnerabilities rather than replace them.
Ukraine’s military has integrated commercial internet infrastructure and distributed communications into its defense architecture throughout the conflict. Strikes that degrade those networks carry both civilian and military consequences.
Patriot Production Authorization
In the same public remarks, Zelensky confirmed that Trump has authorized Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles domestically. The Hill reported Zelensky’s statement that “concrete agreements” are in place between Kyiv and Washington on the arrangement.
The Patriot system has been one of Ukraine’s most capable air-defense platforms, used to intercept ballistic missiles and cruise missiles targeting Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure. Domestic production capacity would reduce Kyiv’s reliance on Western resupply timelines and could increase the volume of interceptors available to defend sites like data centres and power stations now reportedly under direct threat.
The authorization comes as Russian drone and missile strikes have continued to test Ukrainian air defenses. A Russian drone strike on a Kyiv apartment building earlier this week killed an Israeli teenager, drawing international condemnation and fresh calls for accelerated air-defense support for Ukraine.
Pattern of Infrastructure Strikes
Friday’s reported targeting of digital infrastructure continues a documented Russian campaign against the systems that sustain Ukrainian society. Russian strikes this week hit Ukraine’s largest steelmaker, extending a pattern of attacks on industrial production that has intensified in recent weeks.
Ukraine has responded with its own long-range drone operations. An attack earlier this week halted operations at the Perm oil refinery inside Russian territory, demonstrating Ukraine’s capacity to reach deep into Russian industrial infrastructure.
The mutual targeting of civilian and economic infrastructure has continued alongside active diplomatic engagement. The United States, China, and Gulf partners have been involved in peace and mediation discussions, though no framework has produced a halt to offensive operations on either side.
What Comes Next
The Patriot production authorization carries significant potential if implemented at scale, but no timeline, industrial partner, or production volume has been announced publicly as of Friday. Zelensky’s confirmation of “concrete agreements” stops short of a signed arrangement with public terms.
The reported strikes on internet providers raise questions about which specific networks or regions have been targeted and what, if any, disruption to communications has occurred. Ukraine has historically managed information about infrastructure damage carefully during active operations.
The IAEA’s continued monitoring reflects the international community’s sustained concern that escalating strikes near or around Ukraine’s nuclear facilities could create radiological risks. Update 368 addressed conditions at those sites; no radiation safety incidents were reported.
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