Russia struck the headquarters of Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile service provider, in Kyiv on Sunday, in the latest attack on the country’s communications infrastructure. Kyivstar confirmed that its head office was hit and said there were no casualties.According to Reuters, the strike came as Moscow continued attacks on Ukrainian data centres and communications infrastructure.Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck a Vodafone Ukraine data centre, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Kyiv data centre was hit twice, wounding two children and an adult.Russia had already been stepping up strikes on Ukraine’s data centres and telecommunications infrastructure in the days before the Kyivstar attackOn September 23, Russian strikes damaged facilities used by several internet providers in Kyiv, disrupting internet services for around 100,000 households in Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to Ukraine’s digital transformation ministry.According to Ukrainian companies and officials, infrastructure belonging to providers including Domonet, Kievnet and Faust was damaged, while a data centre housing infrastructure for hosting provider MiroHost was destroyed. A Russian strike also damaged a Datagroup data centre in Kyiv, further disrupting Ukraine’s digital infrastructure.Russian defence ministry said the strikes included data-processing and telecommunications centres such as New-Telco and United DC, claiming they were linked to Ukrainian military communications and intelligence. Moscow also said the Datagroup facility was being used by Ukrainian military intelligence.Why Ukraine’s communications network matters in the warUkraine’s communications infrastructure has become an increasingly important part of its war effort, connecting military units, command centres and battlefield systems while also carrying information used for air-raid and missile alerts.Ukraine foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia was targeting major Ukrainian data centres in an attempt to disrupt the flow of information, while stressing that rapid missile and drone alerts are crucial for saving lives.As the war has become increasingly dependent on drones, real-time intelligence and networked command systems, reliable digital connectivity has become critical to the speed at which information moves from the battlefield to commanders and frontline forces.Ukraine’s military also relies on digital platforms to build a real-time picture of the battlefield. Systems such as Delta combine information from multiple sources to help commanders track Russian forces, monitor battlefield developments and coordinate operations