Telecoms blackout hits northeast Ukraine; large power outages also reported

Illustration by Kristen Radtke / The Verge

One of the most serious communications disruptions of the conflict so far has been caused by a telecoms black out.

NetBlocks reported the internet shutdown at 8:23PM local time on March 3rd.

NetBlocks said residents had reported huge blasts at the thermal power plant. The tracker said it was no longer receiving data for the area.

One million people live in the 24 administrative regions that make up Ukraine.

The loss of heat, water and electricity was reported by social media users. A video that was shared by a journalist from the Indian Deccan Herald newspaper appeared to confirm details of the explosion and power cut that were reported in the video. The city of Sumy has been the focus of media coverage in India after it was revealed that hundreds of Indian students were stuck in the city.

Since the Russian invasion began, there have been a number of communications disruptions, but the one in Sumy Oblast appears to be the most serious. On February 23rd, areas of Kharkiv and the surrounding region lost internet service after infrastructure belonging to the internet service provider was damaged.

Some analysts have expressed fears of a more widespread internet outage, but it has so far failed to happen. After the vice prime minister of Ukraine requested that the service be extended to cover the country, some Ukrainians are now able to access satellite internet through the Starlink service.