Russian drones strike Ukraine’s data centers by exploiting air defense gaps
Russian drones strike Ukraine’s data centers by exploiting air defense gaps
俄罗斯无人机利用防空漏洞袭击乌克兰数据中心
A surge in Russian jet-powered drone strikes on Ukrainian data centers has increasingly disrupted mobile phone and Internet services for thousands of people. Now Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other government officials are warning of the need for more air defense capabilities, as such telecommunication outages could threaten Ukraine’s digital economy and undermine the country’s ongoing resistance to Russia’s invasion.
近期，俄罗斯喷气式动力无人机对乌克兰数据中心的袭击激增，导致数千人的移动电话和互联网服务受到严重干扰。乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基及其他政府官员警告称，乌克兰亟需增强防空能力，因为此类通信中断可能会威胁到乌克兰的数字经济，并削弱该国对俄罗斯入侵的持续抵抗。
The Russian attacks on Ukrainian telecommunication infrastructure have focused on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv since September 23, according to the nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry reported that 100,000 households in the Kyiv region were temporarily experiencing Internet outages from those initial strikes—and Russia has only intensified its strike campaign against major Ukrainian data centers and mobile phone networks in recent weeks.
据非营利组织“无国界记者”称，自9月23日以来，俄罗斯对乌克兰通信基础设施的袭击主要集中在首都基辅。乌克兰数字化转型部报告称，最初的袭击导致基辅地区10万户家庭暂时断网，且近几周俄罗斯进一步加剧了针对乌克兰主要数据中心和移动通信网络的打击力度。
“Russian attacks on Ukraine’s telecommunication infrastructure are not new, with strikes and shelling previously damaging fiber optic lines, cell towers, and facilities belonging to mobile network companies,” said Tetiana Gaviuk, analyst for Europe at ACLED, in a post on October 1. “However, the recent concentrated attacks on Kyiv’s data centers and telecom networks stand out because multiple providers and facilities were hit within days, indicating Russia’s increased pressure on Ukraine’s digital infrastructure.”
ACLED欧洲分析师塔蒂亚娜·加维尤克（Tetiana Gaviuk）在10月1日的一篇文章中表示：“俄罗斯对乌克兰通信基础设施的攻击并非新鲜事，此前袭击和炮击已损坏了光纤线路、信号塔以及移动网络公司的设施。然而，近期针对基辅数据中心和电信网络的集中攻击尤为突出，因为多家供应商和设施在几天内接连遇袭，这表明俄罗斯对乌克兰数字基础设施的施压正在升级。”
Such repeated attacks could undermine the telecommunication networks that support Ukraine’s banks, payment systems, and public services, according to warnings from officials and industry figures, as reported by The Guardian.
据《卫报》报道，官员和业界人士警告称，此类反复袭击可能会破坏支撑乌克兰银行、支付系统和公共服务的通信网络。
Russia’s strike campaign
俄罗斯的打击行动
Russia has launched mass missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power grid infrastructure, railroad stations, shipping ports, and even residential apartment buildings since the first year of its full-scale invasion in 2022. But such long-range strikes have become even more damaging this year, as they have exhausted Ukraine’s supply of missile interceptors—and Russia has also upgraded many of its one-way attack drones to become faster jet-powered drones that are more difficult to shoot down.
自2022年全面入侵乌克兰的第一年起，俄罗斯就对乌克兰的电网基础设施、火车站、海港甚至居民公寓楼发动了大规模导弹和无人机袭击。但今年，这些远程打击造成的破坏更为严重，因为乌克兰的导弹拦截器库存已耗尽，且俄罗斯已将其许多单向攻击无人机升级为速度更快、更难被击落的喷气式动力无人机。
For example, Zelenskyy stated on October 4 that Ukrainian air defenses currently intercept more than 85 percent of conventional Shahed-type drones originally developed by Iran and supplied to Russia. But such interception rates fall to just 50 or 60 percent when dealing with newer and faster jet-powered Shahed drones.
例如，泽连斯基在10月4日表示，乌克兰防空系统目前能拦截超过85%由伊朗开发并供应给俄罗斯的传统“见证者”（Shahed）型无人机。但在面对更新、更快的喷气式“见证者”无人机时，拦截率降至仅50%至60%。
Russia’s targeting of data centers is part of a broader long-range strike campaign against energy and commercial infrastructure that “aims to make civilian life in Ukraine unbearable such that Ukraine will capitulate to Russia’s demands,” according to the DC think tank Institute for the Study of War. The Russian strategy seeks to exploit Ukraine’s current air defense gaps and damage or destroy Ukrainian infrastructure during the colder fall and winter seasons.
据华盛顿智库“战争研究所”（Institute for the Study of War）称，俄罗斯针对数据中心的攻击是其针对能源和商业基础设施的更广泛远程打击行动的一部分，旨在“让乌克兰的平民生活变得无法忍受，从而迫使乌克兰屈服于俄罗斯的要求”。俄罗斯的战略意图是利用乌克兰目前的防空漏洞，在寒冷的秋冬季节破坏或摧毁其基础设施。
However, Russia’s intensified strike campaign also coincides with Russian battlefield setbacks, especially with the Ukrainian military’s Operation Vivaldi having retaken dozens of square miles of territory near the vital fortress belt cities guarding eastern Ukraine. So the strike campaign arguably represents the main avenue open for Russian President Vladimir Putin to try claiming some semblance of victory nearly five years after the start of his so-called special military operation in Ukraine.
然而，俄罗斯加强打击行动的同时，也正值其在战场上遭遇挫折，特别是乌克兰军队的“维瓦尔第行动”（Operation Vivaldi）夺回了乌克兰东部关键防御堡垒城市附近的数十平方英里领土。因此，可以说，在所谓的“特别军事行动”开始近五年后，这场打击行动已成为俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京试图宣称取得某种形式胜利的主要途径。
Telecommunication resiliency and alternatives
通信韧性与替代方案
Ukraine has already moved some data centers outside the country and invested in building more underground telecommunication networks to boost resiliency, said Kateryna Chernohorenko, Ukraine’s former deputy minister of defense for digital transformation, in an interview with Breaking Defense. But she also cautioned that “you cannot move everything underground” and emphasized the need for allies to help boost Ukraine’s air defenses against Russia’s ballistic missiles and drones.
乌克兰前国防部数字化转型副部长卡特琳娜·切尔诺霍连科（Kateryna Chernohorenko）在接受《Breaking Defense》采访时表示，乌克兰已经将部分数据中心转移到境外，并投资建设更多的地下通信网络以提高韧性。但她也提醒称，“不可能把所有东西都搬到地下”，并强调盟友需要帮助乌克兰加强防空能力，以抵御俄罗斯的弹道导弹和无人机。
The telecommunication outages could force more local media outlets and ordinary civilians to turn to satellite-based solutions, like Starlink. Former Ukrainian government advisor Serhii Sternenko recommended that residents of Kyiv purchase Starlink terminals or similar alternatives ahead of winter.
通信中断可能会迫使更多的当地媒体和普通民众转向卫星解决方案，例如“星链”（Starlink）。乌克兰前政府顾问谢尔希·斯特年科（Serhii Sternenko）建议基辅居民在冬季到来前购买星链终端或类似的替代设备。
“These repeated Russian strikes on Ukraine’s telecommunications infrastructure not only affect the work of the media, but also the Ukrainian population’s right to information,” said Pauline Maufrais and Vincent Berthier, regional officer for Ukraine and head of the technology and journalism desk at Reporters Without Borders, in a statement. “These are war crimes and their gravity is undeniable.”
“无国界记者”乌克兰区域官员宝琳·莫弗雷（Pauline Maufrais）和技术与新闻部门负责人文森特·贝尔蒂埃（Vincent Berthier）在一份声明中表示：“俄罗斯对乌克兰通信基础设施的反复袭击，不仅影响了媒体的工作，也损害了乌克兰民众的知情权。这些是战争罪行，其严重性不容置疑。”
This is not the only instance of data centers becoming wartime targets in the past year. When the United States and Israel first attacked Iran in February 2026, Iran’s retaliatory strikes on the Gulf region included targeting multiple Amazon data centers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Amazon has since acknowledged the permanent loss of some Amazon Web Services customer data because of the data center destruction.
这并非过去一年中数据中心成为战争目标的唯一案例。2026年2月，当美国和以色列首次袭击伊朗时，伊朗对海湾地区的报复性打击就包括针对巴林和阿拉伯联合酋长国的多个亚马逊数据中心。亚马逊此后承认，由于数据中心被毁，部分亚马逊云科技（AWS）客户数据永久丢失。