
Poland Scrambles Aircraft after Russian Strikes on Ukraine
Polish and allied aircraft were activated early on Sunday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched air strikes targeting western Ukraine, 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," the Command said on X.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts as of 0200 GMT on Sunday after the Ukrainian Air Force warned of Russian missile attacks.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Saudi Gazette
16 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Massive Russian aerial attack targets Kharkiv
KYIV — A large Russian attack with drones and missiles has hit Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near-daily widescale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year war. The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military air bases deep inside Russia. According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down and neutralized 87 drones and seven missiles. Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Kharkiv's regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half year old baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added. The attack on Kharkiv comes one day after Russia launched one of the fiercest missile and drone barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least killing at least six people and injuring about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on the Kursk front inside Russia, the Ukrainian daily Ukrainskaia Pravda reported. No more details were given immediately. US President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday with "Operation Spiderweb" In a new statement bound to cause offense in Kyiv and amongst its allies, Trump told journalists on board Air Force One on Friday evening local time when asked about "Operation Spiderweb": "They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That's the thing I didn't like about it. When I saw it I said 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike'." — BBC


Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
Russia launches 'massive' strikes days after Ukrainian drone attack
KYIV — Russia launched large-scale drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's capital and other parts of the country early on Friday, officials have said. At least three people were killed and 49 injured in the strikes, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. The aerial raids targeted the capital, Kyiv, as well as the city of Lutsk and the Ternopil region in the north-west of the country. Russia's defense ministry said the strikes were in response to "terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime", adding that it had targeted military sites. It said its armed forces "overnight launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea and ground-based weapons, as well as attack drones". The attack came after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned US President Donald Trump he would respond to Ukraine's recent strikes on Russian airbases. Russia's latest attack on Ukraine comes days after Kyiv launched its largest long-range drone strike on at least 40 Russian warplanes at four military bases. Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called Spider's Web operation by the SBU security service, striking "34% of [Russia's] strategic cruise missile carriers". Authorities say Friday's attacks included 38 cruise missiles, which is the kind Ukraine targeted in Sunday's operation. Zelensky said that three deaths had been confirmed in the strikes - all employees of Ukraine's state emergency services. He said the attack used more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles, and the number of people injured "may increase" in a post on X. The Ukrainian leader added that "now is exactly the moment when America, Europe, and everyone around the world can stop this war together by pressuring Russia" He also made a thinly veiled reference to Trump's apparent unwillingness to put pressure on Russia. "If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives – that is complicity and accountability," Zelensky wrote. "We must act decisively." In an earlier statement, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people had been killed in the country's capital. Air raid alerts were in place in Kyiv, where a residential building was hit, and the city's train system was disrupted after shelling damaged metro tracks. Tens of thousands of civilians in the capital spent a restless few hours in underground shelters. From the centre of the city, prolonged bursts of machine gun fire could be heard as air defences on the outskirts attempted to bring down scores of drones aimed at the capital. From time to time, the distinctive buzz of drones overhead could also be heard. Bright flashes of light, sometimes reflected on nearby buildings, would be followed, five or 10 seconds later, by thunderous explosions. The cities of Kharkiv, Sumy and Luhansk were also under air raid alerts. Elsewhere, Ternopil's military chief Vyacheslav Negoda said Friday's strike was the "most massive air attack on our region to date". The Mayor of Ternopil, Igor Polishchuk, said five people were wounded in the attack while homes, schools and a government facility had been damaged. In Lutsk, five people were injured in an attack using 15 drones and six missiles, according to Mayor Ihor Polishchuk. Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said its air defences shot down 174 Ukrainian drones overnight in parts of Russia and occupied Crimea. The ministry said Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were also intercepted over the Black Sea. Earlier this month, direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul, but ended without a major breakthrough. Ukrainian negotiators said Russia rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand of Kyiv and its Western allies, including the US. The Russian team said they had proposed a two- or three-day truce "in certain areas" of the vast front line, but gave no further details. Trump said Putin vowed to "very strongly" respond to Ukraine's recent attack on Russian airbases, during a phone call that lasted more than an hour on Wednesday. Moscow had previously said that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukraine's attack. Last week, Trump appeared to set a two-week deadline for Putin, threatening to change how the US is responding to Russia if he believed Putin was still "tapping" him along on peace efforts in Ukraine. — BBC


Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Pentagon diverting key anti-drone technology from Ukraine to US forces in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon notified Congress last week that it will be diverting critical anti-drone technology that had been allocated for Ukraine to US Air Force units in the Middle East, according to correspondence obtained by CNN and people familiar with the matter. The move reflects the US' shifting defense priorities under President Donald Trump – toward the Middle East and the Pacific – and the fact that US stockpiles of some defense components are becoming increasingly stretched. The technology, proximity fuzes for the rockets Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones, was redirected from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to Air Force Central Command on orders from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the correspondence dated May 29 and sent to the Senate and House Armed Services committees. USAI is a Defense Department funding program that was established in 2014, when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. It authorizes the US government to buy arms and equipment for Ukraine directly from US weapons manufacturers. The proximity fuzes were originally purchased for Ukraine but were redirected to the Air Force as a 'Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue,' the correspondence says. The notification was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The Pentagon has in recent months redirected a large amount of equipment and resources to the Middle East, including air defense systems out of the Indo-Pacific Command, amid threats from Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It is not yet clear what the impact will be of diverting the fuzes away from Ukraine. But the technology has made their rockets more effective against Russian drones, since the fuze sets off an added explosion as the rocket nears the drone. US forces in the Middle East have had to contend with drones, too, however, particularly from Iran-backed groups in Syria and Iraq. — CNN