Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut.
A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals.
Photo: Reuters
“Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram yesterday.
Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said that Stryi District, south of the city of Lviv, near the Polish border, was also attacked.
Ukraine was earlier placed under a nationwide air alert that warned of cruise missiles being launched from Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The alert was lifted about two hours later.
Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said the missiles were fired at the capital “in groups” in the third predawn attack in four days.
Preliminary reports suggested there were no casualties or damage, he said, and the city’s air defenses had hit “about a dozen” missiles.
“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko wrote on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink also addressed the increased frequency of recent attacks.
“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law,” Brink wrote on X.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy said that about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the region.
Meanwhile, for about 40 seconds, “Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces ... of the Russian Federation,” the Polish Armed Forces wrote on X.
“The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow [Lublin Voivodeship] and stayed for 39 seconds,” the statement added.
The missile was tracked by military radar throughout its flight, the army said.
“The Polish army is constantly monitoring the situation on Ukrainian territory and remains on permanent alert to ensure the security of Polish airspace,” said the army.
Poland activated its air defence procedures during the incident, the operational command of the armed forces said in its statement.
A similar incident occurred on Dec. 29 last year, when a Russian missile penetrated Polish airspace for several minutes before returning to Ukraine.
In November 2022, two people were killed when a Ukrainian air-defense missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, close to the Ukrainian border.
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