Poland scrambled fighter jets on Thursday after Russia carried out its largest hypersonic missile assault on Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with Donald Trump last week.
Warsaw confirmed that Polish Air Force aircraft, supported by NATO allies, were deployed to secure its airspace as Russian long-range bombers launched waves of strikes across western Ukraine.
“In connection with the activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, aircraft of the Polish Air Force and allied aviation are operating in Polish airspace,” the Polish Armed Forces said in a statement on X.
Strikes close to NATO
The barrage left one person dead and several others wounded in Lviv, just 45 miles from the Polish border. Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported that a combined drone and cruise missile attack struck residential areas, damaging dozens of buildings.
In the nearby city of Mukachevo, near Hungary and Slovakia, 12 people were injured in further strikes. Local officials said five remain in hospital, with one transferred to a regional facility for treatment.
Lutsk was also hit by drones and missiles, though Mayor Igor Polishchuk confirmed no casualties in the city.
Russia’s response
Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had destroyed 49 Ukrainian drones across several regions but gave no details on damage or casualties inside its territory.
Diplomatic stalemate
The escalation came as US President Donald Trump continued efforts to broker a ceasefire. He met Putin in Alaska earlier this month before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in Washington for further talks.
However, the Kremlin dismissed Western peace initiatives as ‘a road to nowhere,’ signalling little sign of progress in ending the war, now in its fourth year.
