NATO fighter jets were scrambled in Poland and Latvia as Russia launched another major attack on Ukraine, prompting emergency alerts in 24 districts of Lublin Voivodeship, including Lublin, Chełm, Zamość and Biała Podlaska.
The mobile-phone alert stated: “Russian air attack on Ukrainian territory. The situation is being monitored.” Both Polish and allied warplanes were scrambled for the fourth such alert in seven days as the conflict comes closer to NATO’s eastern flank.
Latvia and Lithuania respond
In Latvia, NATO Baltic Air Policing fighters were scrambled amid a yellow-level warning for Krāslava municipality, which adjoins close Russian ally Belarus. Neither Poland nor Latvia suffered an incursion, according to reports.
Neighbouring Lithuania, also a NATO state, was hit by “a hybrid attack carried out by Belarus” as “weather balloons”, often used to smuggle cigarettes, were floated across the border in a suspected deliberate bid to cause disruption. This led to the closure of the airport in capital Vilnius for three hours with 17 disrupted flights.
Russian strikes and civilian casualties
The latest NATO defensive action came after Western intelligence chiefs warned Putin may be plotting a small-scale invasion of NATO territory bordering Russia in “months, not years”. The threats came on a night when Russia staged major strikes on Ukraine using both its own and North Korean missiles, once more killing civilians.
In Mikolaiv region, a three-year-old boy was killed in the Russian onslaught. “Unfortunately, despite the efforts of medical professionals, the boy could not be saved,” said Georgy Reshetilov, head of Mikolaiv military administration. “Our sincere condolences to the child's family and loved ones.” In Dnipro, three people were killed and another six were injured as a huge inferno ignited at the site of a major warehouse. A 25-year-old man was reported to be in a critical condition with fears people were trapped under the rubble. Two other cities were hit in the same region – Kryvyi Rih and Pavlograd.
Ukraine strikes Russian oil refinery
The Russian Ministry of Defense said its forces launched a massive strike against enterprises in Ukraine's metallurgical and chemical industries, as well as the fuel and energy sector and the defence industry. On a day when Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Donald Trump in New York, he again defied the US president by authorising attacks on a major Russian oil installation.
Kuibyshev Oil Refinery in Samara was exploded in an attack by swarming Ukrainian drones, further hampering Putin’s fuel supplies. Trump had called for a halt on such strikes due to the world diesel shortage amid the conflict in the Middle East. Huge flames and plumes of smoke were seen at the facility. The attack came after Zelensky held talks with CIA director John Ratcliffe during a refuelling stop at Shannon Airport in Ireland. Ratcliffe last month flew to Moscow for talks with Putin’s top spymasters. Russian air defences claimed they intercepted and destroyed 297 Ukrainian drones overnight.
