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Russia launched a new barrage of missiles and drones in an overnight attack, officials in Kyiv reported on Saturday morning. The assault targeted energy facilities in the southeast and west of Ukraine, injuring at least two energy workers and causing substantial damage to the country’s power grid.

According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia fired 16 missiles and 13 Shahed drones at critical infrastructure and energy facilities. Despite the intensity of the attack, Ukraine’s air defenses successfully intercepted 12 of the 16 missiles and all 13 drones. The state-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo confirmed that the strikes had damaged equipment in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast and the Lviv region in the west.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, two energy workers were injured when a fire broke out at an energy facility following the missile strikes, as reported by regional Governor Ivan Fedorov. This marks the eighth major attack on Ukrainian power plants since Moscow intensified its campaign against energy infrastructure three months ago.

With no significant changes reported along the 1,000-kilometre front line, where recent Kremlin offensives in eastern and northeastern Ukraine have made only incremental gains, both sides have increasingly targeted each other’s infrastructure. This strategy aims to undermine their respective abilities to sustain military operations in a war that has now entered its third year.

Moscow’s latest attack comes in the wake of Ukrainian military strikes on three oil refineries in southern Russia. These tit-for-tat attacks have severely strained Ukraine’s power generation capacity, leading to a new wave of rolling blackouts across the country.

In other developments, the governor of the partly occupied Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine reported that Russian attacks had killed five people and wounded seven others on Friday. Additionally, a Ukrainian policeman was killed in a Russian drone attack on a checkpoint in the partly occupied Kherson region, according to the Ukrainian National Police.

In response to the increasing frequency of Ukrainian strikes, Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that air defence systems had destroyed five drones over the Sea of Azov and the western regions of Bryansk and Smolensk. The ministry also reported intercepting several drones that were allegedly attempting a naval attack in the Black Sea.

Amid these developments, the United States has imposed sanctions on 12 senior executives of Russia’s AO Kaspersky Lab, citing cybersecurity risks. This move follows the announcement of plans to ban the sale of Kaspersky’s antivirus software due to “national security concerns.” The sanctions specifically target senior leaders, including Kaspersky’s chief operating officer Andrei Tikhonov and chief legal officer Igor Chekunov. The sanctions freeze the executives’ US assets and prohibit American companies or citizens from engaging in financial transactions with them.

Kaspersky Lab has denied the allegations, stating that it does not engage in activities threatening US national security and plans to explore all legal options to maintain its operations. The Kremlin has criticized the US decision, describing it as an attempt to eliminate competition for American companies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the US of resorting to “unfair competition” tactics.

US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller defended the sanctions, stating that Kaspersky Lab operates under the jurisdiction of the Russian government, which could exploit its access to obtain sensitive data.

As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate, the targeting of infrastructure and the imposition of international sanctions underscore the growing complexity and far-reaching consequences of this prolonged war.

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