RSF condemns Russian strikes on Kyiv data centres as war crime

The international human rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned regular Russian strikes on data centres and telecom infrastructure in Kyiv, which have disrupted the operations of Ukrainian media outlets. The organisation described these attacks as war crimes and a threat to Ukrainians’ access to information, stressing that the systematic attacks on civilian communications infrastructure must stop.

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“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. These are war crimes and their gravity is undeniable. RSF condemns attacks on civilian areas and the Kremlin’s strategy. These systematic strikes must stop,” said RSF’s Regional Officer for Ukraine Pauline Maufrais and Head of Technology and Journalism Desk Vincent Berthier.

Ukrainian news organisations experience issues following Russia’s 26 September strike

The Institute of Mass Information has previously reported issues experienced by other Ukrainian news organisations due to Russian strikes on infrastructure. On 26 September 2026, Armiya TV temporarily went off air due to technical problems caused by Russian shelling. Novyny.LIVE had to halt broadcasting due to connectivity disruptions following a Russian attack on Kyiv’s infrastructure. The Priamyi website was offline as well due to a Russian strike on a data centre. Suspilne website was experiencing video playvack issues due to a Russian strike on the Cosmonova data centre in Kyiv.

Kyiv 24 has reported that Kyiv city may experience disruptions to cable and online television due to Russia’s large-scale attacks on telecom infrastructure and data centres.

Channel 5 remains live on YouTube but is experiencing problems with TV signal retransmission.

The Poltava-based news website Kolo has been offline since 26 September due to the Russian attack on Kyiv.

The risks of Russian strikes targeting Ukraine’s digital and telecom systems will remain high until the hostilities end, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi said.