Global Microsoft outage hits airlines, banks and businesses, Ukraine is hit too
Sources: Radio Svoboda
In the early hours of July 19, Ukraine faced significant tech disruptions affecting a range of businesses, including Nova Poshta, Monobank, Sense Bank, and Vodafone. These issues were not isolated to Ukraine; they were experienced across many countries worldwide.
On Friday, a series of unidentified glitches led to widespread interruptions across airlines, banks, and even the London Stock Exchange. The global cascade of disruptions began after Microsoft reported issues with its online services.
Later reports indicated that the IT outages were linked to a software update for Microsoft Windows operating systems issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. This left CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz red-faced; he promptly issued a statement claiming that the IT issue causing the global outage had been identified and that a fix had been deployed. He added that his company was working with “customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts” and emphasized that the issue was “not a security incident or cyberattack.”
The technical debacle caused major airlines to pause hundreds of flights worldwide, affecting American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Meanwhile, Berlin’s airport reported delays in flight check-ins, reflecting similar technical problems at other airports globally.
Sky News, one of the UK’s leading news channels, announced it had to interrupt its broadcast due to the IT outage, according to the network’s board chairman.
The situation quickly spiraled out of control, affecting Spanish airports, Turkish airlines, Australian media outlets, and banks. Major corporations, including McDonald’s Corp., United Airlines Holdings Inc., and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), reported various connectivity issues with customer support services.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.