Overnight Russia-Ukraine Attacks Reported & Poland Scrambles Jets in Response to Sunday Attacks
UKRAINE – Overnight Russia-Ukraine attacks were reported on Sunday by each side, with at least 2 people getting killed and 9 others injured during the strikes.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that its air defenses shot down 86 Ukrainian drones, of which 29 were downed over the country’s border region of Belgorod.
“As a result of further targeted strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, one civilian was killed and another was injured,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement on Telegram.
Officials from other regions, mentioned by the Defense Ministry, including the Saratov, Voronezh, and Smolensk areas, reported no casualties or damage to local infrastructure, based on preliminary information.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed on Telegram that its air defenses shot down 274 out of 297 drones, as well as 33 out of 46 missiles, launched by Russia overnight.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that one person was killed and five others were injured in the village of Putrivka in the Kyiv region, noting that infrastructure facilities, and private residential and commercial buildings in the region were also damaged.
The statement added that energy infrastructure facilities in the southwestern Odesa region were also hit during the overnight attacks and sustained “significant” damage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said through US social media company X that a total of eight people were injured in the country due to the attacks, which also affected the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava, and Sumy regions, stating that while the main target of the strikes was the energy sector, ordinary residential buildings and railway infrastructure were also damaged.
“This week alone, Russia launched more than 1,300 attack drones against Ukraine, over 1,400 guided aerial bombs, and 96 missiles of various types, including dozens of ballistic ones. That is why we must bolster our air defense. We need systems that effectively counter ballistic threats,” he added.
Commenting on the attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a later statement that it launched attacks against military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian army.
Poland Scrambles Jets
Polish Air Force jets were scrambled and the country’s air defense systems went on high alert early Sunday after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone assault on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, said the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command.
“On-duty fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft were scrambled, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems reached the highest state of readiness,” the command wrote on X.
According to the statement, the move was preventive and aimed at ensuring the security of Polish airspace, particularly along the border with Ukraine, where Russian strikes have intensified in recent days.
Polish fighter jets and air defense units were poised to intervene if incoming threats approached or crossed into Poland. At no point was Polish airspace violated, the military stressed.
The operational command also expressed gratitude to NATO allies, including the Allied Air Command and the air forces of Germany and the Netherlands.
