Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukrainian power networks hit in overnight attack

  (The Guardian) : Russia has hit critical energy infrastructure in Stryi district and a power generation facility in Chervonohrad district Russian missiles and drones struck nearly a dozen Ukrainian critical infrastructure facilities in a major airstrike early on Wednesday, causing serious damage at three Soviet-era thermal power plants, Kyiv officials said. The air force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles and 20 out of 21 attack drones used in the attack, which piles more pressure on Ukraine’s beleaguered energy system more than two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Reuters reported. Two Ukrainian security officials have been detained over an alleged Russian assassination plot against Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president. Luke Harding writes from Kyiv that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had exposed a network of agents run by Russia’s FSB that also intended to kill Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, and the SBU’s head, Vasyl Maliuk. The plans included finding someone in the presidential entourage to capture and kill Zelenskiy, the SBU said; and to kill Budanov and others with a missile strike, kamikaze drones launched locally, then another missile strike to destroy the evidence of drones. The SBU named three FSB intelligence officers behind the operation as Maxim Mishustin, Dmytro Perlin and Aleksii Kornev. In intercepted messages, Perlin referred to the missile attack on Budanov as a “big bird” and the drone as a “small bird”. He emphasised: “The order is rocket, drone, rocket.” The SBU said it recovered drones, warheads and ..