Following a large-scale air assault by the Russian military on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Poland has scrambled its fighter jets as a precautionary measure to secure its airspace.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, citing Russian media reports, the coordinated attack involving drones and missiles has resulted in at least 8 fatalities and 30 injuries.
Ukrainian officials reported that the strikes caused significant damage to residential buildings and ignited a fire at a hotel located in the center of Kyiv. The assault occurred just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a potential large-scale Russian offensive. In response to the escalation, President Zelenskyy cut short his visit to Dublin, where he was attending an event marking the start of Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the military to prepare new offensive operations aimed at capturing Kyiv. According to General Syrskyi, these plans include potential incursions targeting the capital and surrounding regions from the territory of Belarus.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which escalated significantly in February 2022, remains a focal point of international security concerns. The involvement of neighboring NATO member states like Poland in air defense monitoring underscores the regional volatility and the risk of spillover effects from the conflict.
Meanwhile, Russian officials reported that Ukrainian drones reached the Leningrad region, the birthplace of President Putin. According to Russian authorities, air defense systems successfully intercepted and destroyed six unmanned aerial vehicles in the area.
