Daytime attacks damage data centres, petrol stations and transport sites hours before Zelenskyy addresses UN General Assembly.
A prolonged Russian drone assault on Kyiv on Wednesday killed at least two people and injured more than 40 others, while disrupting internet access for around 100,000 households after strikes damaged key data centres, Ukrainian officials said.
The attacks, which began overnight and continued into the afternoon, sent plumes of black smoke rising over parts of the capital and caused fires at multiple locations. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported two deaths and at least 41 to 45 injuries, with many of the wounded requiring hospital treatment. Explosions and the sound of air-defence fire were heard across several districts as Ukrainian forces attempted to intercept the incoming unmanned aerial vehicles.
Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry said the strikes disrupted internet services for approximately 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region. Providers Pavutyna and UTELS reported that data centres housing their equipment had been damaged, leaving some customers without connectivity or experiencing intermittent service. Technicians were assessing the damage and carrying out repairs, though no clear timeline for full restoration was immediately available. The outages also affected some judicial digital services and other online platforms for a period.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the targeting of data centres, describing them as critical civilian infrastructure that enables rapid alerts about incoming missile and drone threats. “Rapid alerts about missile and drone threats are essential-they save lives,” he wrote on X. “This is critical civilian infrastructure that ensures people can access life-saving information. It is not a military target.”
Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had struck data centres and logistics and warehouse sites it said were being used for the benefit of the Ukrainian military. It identified facilities in Kyiv and logistical centres in the Black Sea port of Odesa among the targets.
Deadly Russian Drone Attack on Kyiv:
Strikes hit petrol stations operated by Ukrnafta and other companies, warehouses, a business centre, non-residential buildings and transport infrastructure. One drone struck near Kyiv’s central railway station area, setting a market ablaze, though Ukrainian Railways said the station building itself was not damaged. The national railway operator warned of delays and postponed departures from the capital. Fires broke out at several sites, and emergency services worked through the day to extinguish blazes and assist the injured.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia had launched 161 drones overnight as part of a broader attack across the country, including dozens of faster jet-powered Shahed-type drones that have become harder for air defences to intercept. The capital endured multiple air-raid alerts stretching from the evening of 22 September into the afternoon of 23 September.
The assault came hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It also followed his meeting the previous day with US President Donald Trump, during which no major agreements on ending the war were announced. Zelenskyy has used the UN gathering to seek continued international support for Ukraine amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, now well into its fourth year.
Drone Strikes Leave Kyiv Households Offline:
The Wednesday strikes form part of a pattern of frequent Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities this year. Ukrainian officials say Moscow has increasingly used faster, high-flying jet drones that challenge air-defence systems and extend the duration of alerts into daylight hours, disrupting civilian life and infrastructure.
Residents described hearing successive waves of explosions and the distinctive buzz of drones overhead. Emergency services and police continued documenting damage at multiple sites into the evening, urging people to remain in shelters until all-clear signals were given.
No immediate independent verification of the exact casualty figures or the military purpose of the damaged data centres was available. Both sides have traded accusations throughout the conflict over the targeting of civilian versus military infrastructure. The latest attack on Kyiv’s connectivity systems, however, has drawn particular attention because of the direct impact on ordinary households and the systems used to warn of further threats.
As technicians worked to restore internet services and firefighters extinguished remaining blazes, the human cost of the day’s barrage was already clear: two lives lost, dozens injured, and tens of thousands of residents cut off from digital connections in a city that has endured repeated aerial assaults since the full-scale invasion began.