Russia Attacks Ukrainian Infrastructure: Poland Scrambles Fighter Jets and Closes Local Airports

The night of February 21-22, 2026 brought a sharp escalation of Russian aggressive actions. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces issued a statement after 4:00 a.m., informing about the operation of Polish and allied aircraft in national airspace. The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency decided to suspend civil traffic at airports in Rzeszów and Lublin to enable unrestricted operation of alert military pairs and early warning aircraft. The operation ended around 7:15 a.m., and normal airport operations were restored after the threat related to Russian long-range aviation activity subsided. The Russian winter campaign focused on destroying the Ukrainian energy grid, which under extreme frost conditions led to a tragic humanitarian situation; for example, after the January attacks in Kyiv, half a million people were left without heating. Although supplies were systematically restored, new strikes on February 22 again forced emergency interruptions in electricity and heat supplies. Despite the high effectiveness of air defense, which neutralized a significant portion of nearly 300 drones and 50 missiles, infrastructure damage forced interruptions in power supply. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet, signing decrees targeting captains of ships transporting Kremlin raw materials. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, Poland has regularly activated airspace protection procedures in response to Russian missile attacks near its borders, which is part of a broader strategy to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. On the diplomatic front, there has been a sharp deterioration in Kyiv's relations with Budapest and Bratislava. Prime Ministers Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico presented Ukraine with an ultimatum, threatening to halt electricity and fuel supplies if full oil transit via the Friendship pipeline is not restored. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly rejected these demands, calling them blackmail favoring the aggressor. Meanwhile, economic data indicates a real weakening of the Russian oil sector; production has fallen to 9.1 million barrels per day, and the lack of buyers for the raw material is forcing Moscow to apply drastic price discounts. „Takie działania, w kontekście masowych i ukierunkowanych ataków rosyjskich na ukraińską infrastrukturę energetyczną, stanowią zagrożenie dla bezpieczeństwa całego regionu.” (Such actions, in the context of massive and targeted Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, pose a threat to the security of the entire region.) — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine