Ukrainian partisan group Atesh says it jammed Russian military communications near major Moscow data centre
The Ukrainian partisan network Atesh claimed on Oct. 21 to have disrupted Russian defence communications around IXcellerate, a large Moscow data-centre operator, to aid Ukrainian drones.
On Oct. 21, the Ukrainian partisan outfit Atesh asserted that it had sabotaged Russian military communication lines surrounding IXcellerate, one of Moscow’s biggest commercial data-centre operators. According to the group, the Russian Defence Ministry routes air-defence command traffic through IXcellerate’s network, masking it within civilian server activity. By disabling these channels, Atesh said it was disrupting command and control and facilitating Ukrainian drones in striking their objectives.
The claim could not be independently verified, and neither Russian officials nor IXcellerate have acknowledged any disruption. IXcellerate operates multiple data-centre sites in Moscow, providing digital infrastructure for banks, retailers and other corporate clients. This statement adds to Atesh’s earlier claims of attacks on Russian railway and energy facilities linked to the military.
Why it matters
If true, the sabotage shows how partisan groups can target civilian tech infrastructure to affect military operations.
How this story developed
- Oct 8 Ukrainian drone strike ignites fire at Yandex data centre in Ryazan
- Oct 8 Yandex Cloud confirmed power‑supply issues and issued a customer advisory following the incident.
- Oct 8 Ukraine's agriculture minister said the country is exploring the use of German seaports to increase grain shipments after Russian attacks blocked its Black Sea outlets.
- Oct 9 A drone strike in Kaluga disabled several data centre modules.
- Oct 11 Yandex’s Vladimir data centre was shut down after a drone strike.
- Oct 12 Two merchant vessels were hit by drones off Bulgaria, with one sinking and the other catching fire; no casualties have been confirmed.
- Oct 12 The Digital Development Ministry said it is devising protective solutions for critical infrastructure after the series of drone attacks.
- Oct 13 Prime Minister Radev summoned the Russian ambassador to Sofia.
- Oct 14 A viral screenshot showing a sharp fall in Yandex bot traffic prompted experts to explain that the decline was due to routine web‑crawler requests, not a coordinated silencing of bots.
- Oct 16 Bulgaria said it has no solid evidence linking Russia to the drone attacks.
- Oct 17 Romania restarted a rescue operation to locate seven sailors missing after the Wine Trader was hit.
- Oct 20 Ukraine began pursuing German seaports as an alternative export route.
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