NATO jets (Image: Getty)
NATO was forced to scramble fighters in Poland today as Russia staged an onslaught of military drone strikes on neighbouring Ukraine.
The warplanes were sent up as a defensive measure as Vladimir Putin stepped up his aggression after a three-day ceasefire.
The fighters were scrambled around the time Donald Trump arrived in Beijing.
Footage showed one Russian Shahed drone slamming into a building in Lutsk, Volyn region, and exploding.
Some reports say the target was a Ukrainian SBU security service outpost.
Read more: Russia sends chilling WW3 threat to UK – ‘We should nuke England’
Read more: Putin caught staging encounter with ‘stranger’ after assassination fears
There was no immediate confirmation.
“Due to the massive attack by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian territory, conducted using a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles, military aviation has begun operating in our airspace,” said the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.
The commander “activated the necessary forces and resources at his disposal.
“Duty fighters and helicopters are operating, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached a state of increased alert.
“These operations are preventative in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to threatened areas.
“The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces is monitoring the current situation, and subordinate forces and resources remain ready to respond immediately.”
The attack hit multiple targets in western Ukraine.
There were dead and wounded in Lutsk and the city centre was blocked off.
Air attacks were reportedly continuing.
In the Rivne region, a strike on a residential building killed two people withfour others were injured.
Earlier a girl, nine months, suffered grievous leg injuries and was fighting for her life in hospital in Kryvi Rih.
The escalating attacks this week contradict Putin’s comment that the war “is coming to an end”.
His spokesman Dmitry Peskov today repeated Putin’s long-held position that Volodymyr Zelensky should order the surrender of more than 20% of Donetsk region still held by Ukraine as the basis for negotiation.
After the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops, “there will be a ceasefire, and the parties can calmly engage in negotiations,” according to Peskov.
Ukraine refuses to do so.
