‘Massive’ drone strike on Kyiv kills four as Poland scrambles jets
‘Hundreds’ of Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and surrounding regions have killed at least four people and injured at least 40 others.
Drones hit several regions overnight, including Zaporizhzhia, injuring at least 16 people, including three children.
A 12-year-old girl is believed to be among those killed in Kyiv, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ‘vile attack’ demonstrated Moscow’s ‘true position’ towards a proposed ceasefire, in a post on X.
‘Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world,’ he wrote.
Poland closed airspace near two of its southeastern cities, Lublin and Rzeszow, as its air force scrambled jets in response to the attack.
Kyiv residents watched as black plumes of smoke rose into the sky after the latest barrage at around 6am local time.
Independent monitors have said it is one of the biggest strikes on the capital since Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Some residents fled to metro stations deep underground for safety as blasts rang out across the city.
‘Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping,’ Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said on X.
‘Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties.’
Poland closed its airspace near its two cities due to ‘unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security’, flight tracking service Flightradar24 said.
‘In connection with the activity of the Russian Federation’s long-range aviation carrying out strikes on the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aircraft have begun operating in our airspace,’ the Polish military said in a post on X.
The Polish military described the move as preventative and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens.
The latest attack comes after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday told the 80th UN General Assembly that Russia had no intention of attacking EU or Nato member states.
However, he warned members gathered in New York of a ‘decisive response’ to any ‘aggression’ towards Moscow.
The latest strikes on Kyiv follow increasing Russian incursions into countries’ airspace, according to several national governments.
Estonia said Russian fighter jets flew into its airspace last week and remained there for 12 minutes.
A NATO air defence mission was recently carried out over Poland in response to what Warsaw’s military command called an ‘unprecedented violation’ of Poland’s airspace.
Romania and Latvia also reported that single Russian drones had violated their airspace this month.
Donald Trump has previously indicated that Ukraine should give some of its territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.
But in a major shift last week, Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Ukraine could get back ‘the original borders from where this war started’.
Where is Kyiv?
Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is located in the north-central part of the country.
It sits along the Dnipro River, roughly 380 km south of the Belarus border.
To the east lies Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is located in the north-central part of the country.
It sits along the Dnipro River, roughly 380 km south of the Belarus border.
To the east lies Kharkiv, about 480 km away, while Lviv is 540 km to the west.
The southern port city of Odesa is around 475 km from Kyiv.
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