Russia launches massive attack on Kyiv – as Poland scrambles jets and closes airspace

Russia has launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital this morning, killing four people and injuring about 10, Kyiv’s military administration has said.

A 12-year-old girl is believed to be among the dead but that is yet to be officially confirmed, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Poland closed the airspace near two of its southeastern cities, Lublin and Rzeszow, as its air force scrambled jets in response to Russia’s attack on Kyiv.

Drones flew over Kyiv and anti-aircraft fire rang out through the night in what independent monitors said was one of the biggest strikes on the city since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched around 500 drones and over 40 missiles in the overnight attack on Ukraine.

“Moscow wants to continue fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure from the world,” Mr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app.

The attack, which started at around 6am local time (4am UK time), also saw several other regions hit, with at least 16 people, including three children, injured in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, authorities said.

Some residents in Kyiv fled to metro stations deep underground for safety as the attack continued.

Poland closed its airspace near the two cities due to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security”, flight tracking service Flightradar24 said.

“In connection with the activity of the Russian Federation’s long-range aviation carrying out strikes on the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aircraft have begun operating in our airspace,” the Polish military said in a post on X.

It described the actions as preventive and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens.

It comes as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was expected to address allegations made against Moscow that it has violated the airspace of several of its neighbours in recent weeks.

A NATO air defence mission was recently carried out over Poland in response to “unprecedented” Russian drone incursions above the country.

On Saturday, Mr Lavrov, who has been Russia’s foreign minister for 21 years, spoke in New York at the 80th UN General Assembly.

During his address, Mr Lavrov said his country had no intention of attacking any NATO or EU member state but warned of a “decisive response” if any “aggression” was directed towards Moscow.

“Threats of force against Russia, accused of practically planning an attack on the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, are becoming increasingly common,” Mr Lavrov said in New York.

“President Putin has repeatedly debunked such provocations. Russia has never had and does not have such intentions, but any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”

‘They will regret it’

After his UN address, Mr Lavrov held a news conference, where he insisted again that Moscow “has nothing to hide” over the allegations against it.

He was then asked by US correspondent Mark Stone what the Kremlin’s response would be if a nation shot down a Russian drone or plane in Russian airspace.

Mr Lavrov said: “Try to understand that a drone, when it is flying not over our territory, but if it crosses someone’s border but has left our airspace, probably everyone has the right to do with that drone whatever they consider necessary to ensure their security.

“But if there are attempts to shoot down any flying object, or indeed any object at all, on our territory, in our airspace, then I think people will seriously regret it, undertaking such a gross violation of our territorial integrity, our sovereignty.”