Russian strikes on data centers disrupt TV and streaming services in Kyiv

Television signal began disappearing in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities following Russian strikes on data centers, according to Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne and the outlet dev.ua. Viewers reported issues with channels STB, 1+1 and Channel 5, as well as difficulties accessing content through the streaming platforms MEGOGO and SWEET TV. Disruptions were also observed among subscribers of some cable operators, while other TV channels continued operating normally.

Key partner's data center damaged

MEGOGO's support service told dev.ua that viewing problems arose after a Russian strike damaged the data center of the company's main partner. It described "physical damage to the source," which currently makes it impossible to transmit content to users' screens. Technicians are working to restore the signal.

Days of infrastructure attacks

The disruptions follow several days of Russian strikes on communications infrastructure. On September 23, a strike damaged a data center in the capital housing node equipment of internet provider UTELS, and also affected the cloud service Fex.net; the same day, roughly 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region experienced internet problems. On September 24, providers Domonet, Kievnet and Faust reported infrastructure damage and internet outages following a strike on Kyiv, and Russia destroyed a data center housing hosting provider MiroHost's capacity, with no timeline yet given for restoration. On September 25, a strike damaged a data center belonging to the company Datagroup. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that during a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff, decisions were made regarding the protection of data centers and other critical communications infrastructure.