Another day of escalation and fighting is witnessed on the Russian-Ukrainian front on Wednesday, as the Russian army attempts to make further territorial gains, while Ukrainian forces strive to repel the Russian advance with Western military support. This comes a day after the revelation of a Russian plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and prominent political and military figures.
In the latest developments on the ground, the Ukrainian army reported today that Russia launched an airstrike on Kyiv and the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, and that air defense systems were involved in repelling the attack. Ukrainian military and energy officials stated that a Russian airstrike caused damage to several facilities, targeting energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Telegram: "Another massive attack on our energy sector!" He added that the strike targeted electricity generation and transmission facilities in Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia. Except for Zaporizhzhia, these areas are far from the front lines that stretch across eastern and southeastern Ukraine. The extent of the Russian attack on Ukraine is still unknown, and no comments have been made from Moscow.
### Kiev's Weapon Needs
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov discussed Kiev's weapon needs. A statement from the Pentagon press office indicated that Austin and Umerov addressed "the latest events on the battlefield" during a phone conversation and also discussed "Ukraine's most urgent weapon needs".
Additionally, the two ministers discussed a $1 billion weapons package sent to Kiev, as well as Washington's allocation of $6 billion for production of weapons and military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine later. On April 24, President Joe Biden signed a bill approved by Congress to resume arms supplies to Ukraine, totaling $61 billion.
### Assassination Plot Against Zelensky
On Tuesday, Ukraine announced that it had uncovered a Russian plot to assassinate prominent political and military figures, including President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian security officials were arrested for their connection to the group that aimed to carry out assassinations of high-ranking officials ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inauguration on Tuesday.
In a statement from the director of Ukraine's Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, it was noted that "the terrorist attack that was supposed to be a gift for Putin on the occasion of his inauguration was actually a failure for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)." Russia has attempted to target Zelensky multiple times, especially in the early days of the Russian military operation in February 2022, according to Kyiv.
