Kyiv
—
Poland scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and closed two airports Wednesday morning as Russia carried out a combined missile and drone attack across most of Ukraine.
The Russian attack mostly focused on the western areas of Ukraine, which lie close to Poland, but dozens of people were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv where drone strikes damaged apartment buildings and left several cars burning on city streets.
Many regions of Ukraine were left without power Wednesday after strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure.
The threat to the west of the country saw Polish and Allied fighter jets launched to protect Polish airspace on Wednesday morning.
“Quick-reaction fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft have been scrambled” said Poland’s operational command, adding that “ground-based air defense and radar surveillance systems have reached the highest state of readiness.”
Poland’s Rzeszow and Lublin airports, in the country’s east, were also closed “due to the need to ensure freedom of operation for military aviation,” the country’s air navigation service PANSA said on X.
The latest move by NATO comes during a tense week. Polish officials have pointed the finger at Russia after a key train track was destroyed in what Warsaw said was an “unprecedented act of sabotage” committed by two Ukrainian citizens who were “collaborating with Russian services.” Russian officials have denied the accusation.
The latest aerial attack by Moscow came hours after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Turkey to meet with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he tries to “reinvigorate” peace talks and prisoner of war exchanges with Russia. Moscow is not involved in those talks, but Turkey has been a key interlocutor between the two.
Late Tuesday, the US State Department approved a possible $105m sale that would allow Ukraine to upgrade its Patriot air defense system – a critical shield against Russian aerial attacks.
“The proposed sale will improve Ukraine’s ability to meet current and future threats by further equipping it to conduct self-defense and regional security missions with a more robust local sustainment capability,” said a Pentagon statement.
Earlier this week, Zelensky struck a deal to purchase “up to 100” French-made Rafale fighter jets as well as anti-air defenses and drones from France, during a visit to Paris.
NATO allies have increasingly scrambled fighter jets in recent months during Russian attacks on Ukraine, or when stray Russian munitions, drones and warplanes have either strayed too close, or across, their borders.
Poland has also been acutely on edge over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In September, jets shot down multiple Russian drones that violated Polish airspace during an attack on neighboring Ukraine, as the military alliance denounced Moscow for “absolutely dangerous” behavior that ratcheted up tensions to a new level.
The operation marked the first time that shots were fired by NATO since the start of the war in Ukraine.