Ukraine war briefing: Poland scrambles planes to secure airspace as Russia targets western Ukraine

The Guardian

6 hours ago

Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft early on Monday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched airstrikes targeting western Ukraine near the Polish border, the operational command of the Polish armed forces said. 'The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the regions bordering the areas at risk,' it said on X.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts in the early hours of Monday after the Ukrainian air force warned of Russian missile and drone attacks.
Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv, which Ukraine's air defence units were trying to repel, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said on the Telegram messaging app early on Monday.
Russia says its forces are advancing to the edge of the east-central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time in the three-year war, raising the prospect of a new front as the conflict escalates and peace talks stall. Russia is attacking the region after reaching the adjacent western frontier of Ukraine's Donetsk region, according to Russia's defence ministry. The pro-Ukrainian Deep State map showed forces very close to Dnipropetrovsk, which had a population of more than 3 million before the war, and advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka in Donetsk from several directions.
A Ukrainian military spokesperson, Dmytro Zaporozhets, said that Russian forces were trying to 'build a bridgehead for an attack' on Kostyantynivka, an important logistical hub for the Ukrainian army.
Russian military units are also closing in on Sumy city, three years after Ukraine forced them out of the northern region. The troops appear to be within 18 miles (29km) of the city, which is 200 miles north-east of Kyiv.
Independent monitors confirmed Kremlin claims to have retaken the village of Loknia, which had been liberated along with the rest of the Sumy region during Ukraine's 2022 spring counteroffensive.
Moscow and Kyiv are engaged in a public row over the return of the bodies of thousands of soldiers who have died in the war. Russia accused Ukraine of delaying the swap of prisoners of war and the return of the bodies of 12,000 dead soldiers. Ukraine denied those claims. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had not sent the names of more than 1,000 captured soldiers to be released. 'In typical fashion, the Russian side is once again trying to turn even these matters into a dirty political and information game. For our part, we are doing everything we can to keep the exchange track moving forward,' he said in a video statement.