NATO military aircraft were deployed in Polish airspace overnight as a precaution after Russia launched a large-scale drone attack on western Ukraine, according to Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command.
The command said it temporarily raised the readiness of selected forces and assets in response to Russian strikes near Poland’s border.
Officials described the measures as preventive and aimed at protecting Polish airspace, particularly areas close to locations targeted in western Ukraine.
Polish authorities later said military aircraft remained operational while ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems were kept at an appropriate level of readiness because of further potential threats.
The heightened operations ended after approximately two hours.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 149 drones overnight, including Shahed attack drones, about half of which were jet-powered, as well as Gerbera and Parody decoy drones.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 128 drones, while impacts were recorded at 13 locations, according to the Air Force.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported damage to a residential building in Kyiv and attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where at least eight people were injured.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least three people were injured after a drone struck a gas station in the capital’s Holosiivskyi district.
In the northeastern city of Sumy, local officials said at least two people were killed and 23 others injured in a strike on a shopping mall.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine and Chornomorsk in the southwest were among the targets of its overnight attacks. Moscow also said its forces targeted two dry cargo ships heading toward the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa.
Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted at least 448 Ukrainian drones overnight. According to Moscow, the drones were detected over 13 Russian regions, Russian-occupied Crimea, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
The overnight attacks highlight the continuing intensity of the cross-border drone campaign, while Poland’s precautionary deployment underscores concerns among NATO members bordering Ukraine about potential threats to their airspace.
