Odesa internet services disrupted after drone strike damages provider site

A Russian drone strike damaged a telecommunications facility in Odesa on Saturday 10 October, causing disruption to internet services, according to Ukrainian officials and network operator TENET. The company said its technical complex had suffered damage to equipment needed to keep services operating, while crews worked to reroute traffic.

Odesa regional prosecutors told UNIAN that a drone hit a four-storey building during an attack on the city. City military administration chief Serhii Lysak said a building had been damaged, while regional governor Oleh Kiper reported damage to the facade, roof and parked cars. Their attribution of the attack to Russian forces is a claim by Ukrainian authorities.

UNIAN reported that the air-raid alert began at about 18:05 local time. A loud explosion was subsequently heard in parts of Odesa, and smoke and fire were visible near the affected building. Kiper later said the fire had been extinguished. At the time of the official account, no deaths or injuries had been reported.

TENET confirmed that one of its technological sites was damaged, according to UNIAN and NV. The operator said cooling and power-generation equipment had been affected and warned that some customers could lose access to internet connections and associated services. It was still assessing whether the damaged facility could remain in operation.

The company said its engineers were working to reduce the effects of the disruption and redirect traffic where possible. It did not give a confirmed time for complete service restoration. Reports of connectivity problems from customers were consistent with the company's warning, but the number of affected users was not specified.

Ukraine's Odesa regional governor urged residents not to circulate photographs or video from the impact site immediately after the strike. He said publishing precise locations could expose emergency crews to danger from further attacks. Emergency and technical response personnel were at work after the fire, according to the official and company statements.

NV reported that telecommunications facilities in Kyiv had also been damaged in separate attacks earlier in October. Those Kyiv incidents are not part of the Odesa strike and have no casualties or outages added to this report.

The available material identifies the Odesa building as a telecoms facility based on TENET's statement and reporting from the scene. The extent of long-term damage, the number of disconnected customers and the duration of repairs remain undetermined.