Poland scrambles jets as Russia launches massive aerial assault on Ukraine
cnn.com
Polish and allied military aircraft were scrambled early Saturday after Russia launched a massive aerial assault on Ukraine including strikes that targeted near its western border with Poland.
It came hours after NATO intercepted three Russian jets over Estonia’s airspace and with Europe on heightened alert following a series of Russian airspace violations in eastern countries.
“Due to the activity of the Russian Federation’s long-range aviation, which is carrying out strikes on the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” the Polish military posted on X.
“Duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and ground-based air defense systems as well as radiolocation reconnaissance have reached a state of maximum readiness,” it said.
Russia launched 579 attack drones and various types of dummy drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Kyiv’s Air Force said. Moscow also launched eight ballistic missiles and 32 cruise missiles in the attack, it said.
“All night, Ukraine was under a massive attack by Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. He added that three people have been killed in the shelling and dozens more injured.
“Every such strike is not a military necessity but a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorize civilians and destroy our infrastructure,” he said. “That is why a strong international response is needed.”
Overall, eight people were killed, and at least 32 injured, in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours, according to regional authorities.
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