NATO Aircraft Scrambled in Russian Attacks on Ukraine

Poland has deployed its aircraft to protect its airspace following Russia’s launch of missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine.

The armed forces of Poland, which is a member of NATO, and a close ally to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, announced that it was responding to the threat posed by the Russian missiles as explosions were heard in Kyiv and across Ukraine on Monday.

Poland’s military issued a statement warning citizens of increased noise level in the south-east of the country on Monday “due to the start of operations of Polish and allied aircraft in our airspace.” It said that the latest spate of attacks by Russia was the largest since strikes hit western Ukraine on July 8.

“All necessary procedures to ensure the safety of Polish airspace have been launched, and the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces is constantly monitoring the situation,” the statement added, according to a translation. Newsweek has contacted the Polish armed forces for further comment.

Blasts were heard in the Ukrainian capital around 8:30 a.m. following the launch by Russia of Kinzhal ballistic missiles from MiG-31 aircraft, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital had suffered power and water outages in parts of the city. A spokesperson for the humanitarian group Rescue Now told Newsweek that people in Kyiv had to rush to subway stations for shelter and that public transportation services were halted.

“Rescue services struggled to reach the sites of destruction, and the operation of stores and other establishments was limited,” the spokesperson said. “When there is a combined strike of ballistic missiles and other types of weapons, unfortunately, people don’t have enough time to reach shelters, as every minute counts.”

The X account War is Translated posted video of what it said was the aftermath of a strike on Kyiv’s water reservoir, while other social media users shared footage of smoke rising from sites in Kyiv which had been reportedly struck

The country’s largest private energy company DTEK said there had been emergency power shutdowns across Ukraine.

Ukrainians have been expecting a major Russian missile attack, with the U.S. embassy warning last week of an elevated risk of attack around Ukrainian Independence Day, which took place on Saturday.

Explosions were also reported right across the country from Kharkiv in the east to the Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south as well as far west as Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv oblasts.

Ukraine’s Air Force initially reported that 11 Russian Tupolev-95 bomber aircraft had been deployed as well as numerous kamikaze drones. It comes as the Engels airfield which hosts the Tu-95s in Russia’s Saratov region was reportedly targeted by Ukrainian drones on Monday.