Russia hits energy sites in ‘massive’ attack on Ukraine

Five have been charged and the government summoned the Russian ambassador over a fire that required 60 firefighters to bring under control

Russia launched a “massive” missile strike at Ukraine overnight, damaging four power plants in the latest barrage targeting the country’s energy supply, officials in Kyiv said yesterday, after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Friday announced that the US would provide Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles.

Two people were killed and at least 10 more were wounded in the Russian shelling.

Moscow has launched some of its largest ever strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities in the past few months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country.

Ukraine also launched more than 60 drones at southern Russia overnight, Moscow said, in one of its largest overnight drone attacks.

Kyiv said it hit two oil refineries and a military air base.

“Russian armed forces staged another massive missile attack on Ukraine,” the Ukrainian army said in its regular morning update.

“The enemy has once again attacked the country’s energy infrastructure. In particular, facilities in Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions were attacked. There is damage to equipment,” Ukrainian Minister of Energy German Galushchenko wrote on Facebook.

The Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions are in Ukraine’s west, bordering the EU and hundreds of kilometers from the front lines.

Ukraine’s air force said Moscow had fired 34 missiles, 21 of which were shot down.

Kyiv says Moscow is escalating its attacks from the air and on land ahead of nationwide celebrations on May 9, when Russia marks victory in World War II.

Ukraine also launched its own massive drone attack on Russia’s southern Krasnodar region overnight.

A Ukrainian defense source said its drones had hit two oil refineries and a military airfield in the region, just east of the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

“Ukrainian drones struck the atmospheric distillation columns of the Ilsky and Slovyansky refineries. These are key technological facilities,” the source said.

Russian officials in the Krasnodar region reported a fire at an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban.

The refinery partially suspended operations as a result, Russian state media reported.

Meanwhile, the Patriot missiles the US is offering are part of a massive US$6 billion additional aid package. They are be used to replenish previously supplied Patriot systems.

The package also includes more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and gear to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine’s existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed the need for Patriots early on Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting.

“It’s not just Patriots that they need; they need other types of systems and interceptors as well,” Austin said. “I would caution us all in terms of making Patriot the silver bullet.”

Austin said he is asking allied nations to “accept a little bit more risk,” as they consider what weapons to send to Ukraine.

A 20-year-old British man has been charged with masterminding an arson plot against a Ukrainianlinked target in London for Russia and Moscow’s ambassador was summoned by the government, authorities said on Friday.

“Included in the alleged activity was involvement in the planning of an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in March 2024,” the British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.

The government said it summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin “following allegations of Russian orchestrated malign activity on UK soil.”

Kelin dismissed the claims of a link to Russia as “absurd” and “unfounded” in a statement sent to Russian state news agency TASS.

Court documents allege that Dylan Earl, from Leicestershire, England, was connected to Russia’s Wagner Group, which the UK has put on its list of “terrorist” groups, the Press Association news agency reported.

He is accused of organizing and paying for an arson attack on two units at an industrial estate in Leyton, east London, on March 20, which required 60 firefighters to bring under control.

The alleged target is referred to as “Mr X” in the charges.

The CPS, which brings prosecutions in England and Wales, said two other men — Paul English, 60, and Nii Mensah, 21 — had also been charged with aggravated arson in connection with the case.

Two other suspects were named.

Jake Reeves, 22, was charged with agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service, as well as aggravated arson, while Dmitrijus Paulauska, 22, has been charged with having information about terrorist acts, the CPS said.

“While we must let the judicial process run its course, I am deeply concerned by allegations of British nationals carrying out criminal activity on UK soil to benefit the Russian state,” British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron wrote on X. “We will use the full weight of the criminal justice system to hold anyone found guilty of crimes linked to foreign interference to account.”

The British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office demanded “an immediate cessation of this activity,” adding that it would “continue to work with our allies to deter and defend against the full spectrum of threats that emanate from Russia.”

In Berlin, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that “unacceptable” Russian-backed plots would not deter the alliance from supporting Ukraine.

Investigators last week arrested two German-Russian men on suspicion of spying for Russia and planning attacks in Germany, including on US army targets, to undermine military support for Ukraine.

Russian officials rejected the claims.

Dominic Murphy, head of London’s Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, which is leading the investigation, said: “This is a highly significant moment and investigation for us.”

“Not only are the charges that have been authorized by the CPS extremely serious, but it is also the first time that we have arrested, and now charged anyone using the powers and legislation brought in under the National Security Act.”

The National Security Act 2023 was designed to respond to “the threat of hostile activity from states targeting the UK’s democracy, economy, and values,” the government said.

All five suspects are to appear at the Central Criminal Court in London on May 10.