Massive missile strike disrupts Kyiv's internet and power supply

Internet connectivity in Kyiv was “significantly” disrupted after dozens of Russian missiles hit the city early on Tuesday, causing temporary power outages.

According to the internet monitoring firm NetBlocks, the incident is the most severe war-related outage that has impacted Ukraine’s capital in recent months.

⚠ Confirmed: Metrics show a significant disruption to internet connectivity in Kyiv, #Ukraine, amid new Russian missile attacks targeting the capital's civil and critical infrastructure; the incident is the most severe conflict-related outage to impact Kyiv in recent months pic.twitter.com/Xex4tvpjjS

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 2, 2024

Russia on Tuesday fired almost 100 drones and missiles, primarily targeting Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. At least two women were killed, and almost 70 people were injured. The attacks damaged residential buildings, warehouses, a supermarket, and car dealerships.

The Ukrainian energy company, DTEK, said that Russian missiles also damaged power grid equipment and overhead lines in Kyiv and the region, causing blackouts. Nearly 260,000 Kyiv residents were left without electricity due to the attack.

Kyiv authorities told local media that the city districts facing power supply disruptions also had issues with mobile connectivity and internet services.

As of 3 p.m. local time, power has been partially restored in Kyiv; nearly 10,000 people remain without electricity, according to DTEK.

This is not the first time that Russian missile strikes have resulted in power and internet outages in Ukraine. For instance, in October 2022, the country experienced a nationwide disruption in communication services after Russian missiles damaged some of its telecommunication infrastructure and energy facilities.

In November of the same year, a Russian attack resulted in internet outages in Ukraine and Moldova, which shares a border with Ukraine and is connected to Ukraine’s power grid.

Due to the significant damage caused by Russia to Ukraine's critical infrastructure in the winter of 2022, the country had to introduce daily blackouts lasting up to 10 hours.

Ukraine said it won't implement emergency blackouts following Tuesday’s attacks. Energy workers “need some time” to restore the energy supply to all residents, according to local electricity supplier Yasno.

It is easier for Russia to cut off Ukraine's power using drones and missiles than sophisticated cyberattacks, as seen in 2015 and 2016 when Russian hackers attacked Ukraine's power grid.

During its second invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia made attempts to coordinate cyber and missile attacks when targeting Ukraine's energy facilities, as reported by Ukrainian cyber officials.

In September, the Russian cyberespionage group Fancy Bear (also referred to as APT 28, BlueDelta and Forest Blizzard) was caught attacking an unspecified energy facility in Ukraine, using phishing emails to gain initial access to the targeted systems. Ukraine said it thwarted the attack.