NATO Aircraft Scrambled Amid 'Busy Night' of Russian Strikes
U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets are pictured over Warsaw, Poland during a military parade to celebrate the Polish Army Day on August 15, 2023. Polish and allied NATO aircraft were scrambled on Thursday night amid a large Russian missile and drone attack on neighboring Ukraine.
NATO aircraft were scrambled Thursday overnight as Russian drones and missiles again struck targets inside Ukraine, reaching as far west as the Khmelnytskyi region less than 200 miles from the Polish border.
"Polish and allied aircraft" took to the skies above southeastern Poland as Russian ballistic missiles and Shahed attack drones targeted Ukrainian cities, per a report by Warsaw's Armed Forces Operational Command.
"This is another very busy night for the entire air defense system in Poland due to the observed activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation carrying out strikes using cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles of the Shahed type against objects located, among others, in the western territory of Ukraine," the command wrote on X—formerly known as Twitter—just before 2 a.m. local time, warning residents of increased noise levels due to the allied flights.
"The last such intensified activity of Russian aviation, during which there were strikes in western Ukraine, was recorded on the night of June 11-12 this year," the statement added. The allied aircraft had all been stood down within four hours of the command's first social media update.
Ukraine's armed forces said that all 17 Shahed-type attack drones and seven of the 14 missiles launched by Russia overnight were shot down midflight. Interceptions occurred over the regions of Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Kirovohrad.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram that the attack drones were launched from close to the port city of Yeysk in Russia's southwestern Krasnodar Krai region and from occupied Crimea. Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles were also fired from Tu-95 bomber planes flying over Russia's Saratov Oblast, he wrote.
Three Iskander-M ballistic missiles were also fired from Crimea and Krasnodar Krai, with one Kinzhal Kh-47M2 hypersonic missile fired from the skies above the Tambov region.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry by email to request comment.
Thursday night's barrage was the second in two days, with Russia also launching cruise missiles and drones against targets on Wednesday as President Volodymyr Zelensky met with G7 leaders in Italy to lobby for more Western military assistance.
Wednesday night's strikes included a missile attack on a residential building in Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in the south of the country, which killed at least nine and wounded 21 others.
"Every day and every hour, Russian terror proves that Ukraine, together with its partners, should strengthen air defenses," Zelensky said after the attack. "Modern air defense systems can provide maximum protection for people, our cities and our positions. And we need them as much as possible."
Start your unlimited Newsweek trial