Russian ballistic missiles struck Datagroup’s data center in Kyiv, on October 19, destroying the telecommunications company’s equipment and infrastructure which left the facility inoperational. Datagroup was continuing to provide services through backup facilities after the strike, which was part of a wider overnight Russian assault involving Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles, Iskander-K cruise missiles, and 269 attack drones.
In a statement about the attack on its facility in a LinkedIn post, Datagroup said, “As a result of the night ballistic attack, the equipment and infrastructure of the Datagroup data center were completely disabled. Unfortunately, its restoration and further work are impossible. Our employees were not injured. We continue to provide services to customers from backup sites.”
Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 243 drones and four cruise missiles, but the attacks caused casualties in Kyiv and surrounding areas. A 21-year-old woman was killed and five people were injured in the capital, while a separate strike on an industrial facility near Kyiv killed three people that same evening according to a report by Mezha.
In related news, Starlink, a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX and Starshield a specialized, military grade satellite network primarily serving the U.S Department of Defence (DoD) both of which are used for protection of Ukraine sites from drone and missile attacks were allegedly ordered to slow down their services.
In an interview with NBC News, Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, “We asked SpaceX and President Trump to open starlink on the territory of Russia to give us a chance to destroy ballistic launches of Russia. So it was close, always close for us and now the speed is limited and of course it is limited by technically it’s not a mistake, it’s limited because it is a decision, who made this decision? I don’t know. I think that this is both decision, really both decisions if President Trump will decide tomorrow or better today, if he will personally decide to lift this decision it will immediately work as it was before.”
When a NBC Spokeswomen asked President Zelenkskyy, “So just to be very clear, who do you think specifically is to blame for the disruptions to the starlink and the starshield services? Do you think it was a deliberate interruption?”
President, Zelenskyy responded by saying, “Of course the message came from Government, I don’t know from whom, what cabinets and etc, and I think it doesn’t work other way but I don’t know really, but we think, it’s not my opinion, it’s the opinion of our generals, of our Government and of course also my opinion, they say that it was a message from American government to limit this speed and technically SpaceX did it.”
While speaking to reporters during an impromptu press conference just before leaving for Uzbekistan, U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked if the U.S had anything to do with Starlink slowing down in Ukraine. He responded saying, “Well, I don’t know what Zelenskyy said. I’m not sure Zelenskyy knows what he’s talking about, but it wasn’t deliberate. We have nothing to do with that.” Rubio further clarified that nobody in the U.S administration ordered that Starlink speed be slowed down in Ukraine. “It sort of happened, but my understanding is it’s been restored. It’s back to where it was before. That’s Starlink, though. They were using Starlink for their drones.”
This new wave of drone attacks is likely in retaliation for the attacks by Ukrainian forces on several sites in Russia’s St. Petersburg region on October 17 and 18 as readers will recall. The targeted infrastructure included the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, a VKontakte (VK) data center and a logistics center one of Russia’s largest technology companies, confirmed that its data center in Novosergievka had been hit by a drone but its services remained operational.