In Brief
- Eight people have been killed as Russia launches a massive wave of drone and missile strikes on Ukraine.
- Neighbouring Poland claims to have hit by what appears to have been a Russian missile.
Russian strikes killed at least eight people and wounded more than a dozen others across Ukraine, authorities said on Thursday, triggering renewed calls from Kyiv for its allies to send air defence supplies.
The attack involved 74 missiles and 284 drones, according to the Ukrainian air force, and resulted in casualties in the capital Kyiv, the central city of Kryvyi Rig, and in Poltava.
Russia's defence ministry said it had hit Ukrainian military-industrial complex, military communications, and logistics centres. It claimed to have hit the western city of Lviv, and had struck three cargo ships in the Black Sea.
Ukraine's air force said it managed to intercept 55 missiles and 265 drones launched by Moscow.
In neighbouring Poland, a European Union and NATO member, fighter jets were scrambled to secure airspace during the attack.
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A 10-metre-wide crater in a field was discovered, believed to have been caused by a Russian missile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday.
"All the indications are that it was a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile, but we want to be 100% certain about the type of missile and who launched it," Tusk told an emergency meeting.
"There are no reasons to state that Poland was targeted."
Russian drones have previously been detected flying through Polish airspace during attacks, while in 2022 two people in a border village were killed by a misfiring Ukrainian air defence missile.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refreshed his call for more air defence supplies to protect Ukraine against Russia's ballistic missiles.
"Given the critical shortage of air defense missiles from our partners, our warriors are accomplishing truly incredible things," Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian leader on Tuesday had discussed anti-ballistic defence with his United States counterpart Donald Trump at the White House and discussed the possibility of Ukraine producing anti-ballistic Patriot interceptors.
Zelenskyy said he had a "good meeting" with Trump and said the US president "accepted that he will give us (Patriot) licenses".
Throughout the war, Ukraine has developed ways to defend itself against Russian drones and missiles, but super-fast ballistic missiles remain a challenge.
Of more than 120 ballistic missiles fired by Russia this month, Ukraine has downed less than a third of them, according to data from the Ukrainian air force.
That compares to an interception rate for drones of around 90 per cent.
— With additional reporting by the Reuters news agency.
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