Poland said it had scrambled fighter jets and mobilized all available forces on Sunday in response to a “massive” Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine.
“Due to a massive attack by Russia, which is carrying out strikes using cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones against sites located, among other places, in western Ukraine, operations by Polish and allied aircraft have begun,” Poland’s Operational Command posted on social media platform X.
❗️Uwaga, w związku ze zmasowanym atakiem Federacji Rosyjskiej wykonującej uderzenia z użyciem rakiet manewrujących, pocisków balistycznych i bezzałogowych statków powietrznych na obiekty znajdujące się między innymi na zachodzie Ukrainy, rozpoczęło się operowanie w naszej… pic.twitter.com/PuaeXBfsBe
— Dowództwo Operacyjne (@DowOperSZ) November 17, 2024
These measures were “aimed at insuring security in the areas adjacent to the threatened zones.”
Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on the Telegram platform that “a massive attack on our energy system is ongoing” and that Russian forces were “attacking electricity generation and transmission facilities throughout Ukraine.”
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was wounded by falling debris from a drone on a residential building.
Local authorities and Ukrainian media reported numerous explosions throughout the country including in Zaporizhzhia, Odessa and Mykolaiv in the south, and Chernigiv in the north.