Russian strikes kill 13 in Ukraine, Poland scrambles jets after airspace violation

Zelensky's warning

Late on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia had prepared a "massive attack" and that there was a high probability it would be launched overnight. He urged Ukrainians across all regions to pay attention to air raid alerts and stay safe.

The Russians prepared a massive attack several days ago, and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight... Please, in all regions of Ukraine, pay attention to air raid alerts today and stay safe.

The warning came as Zelensky returned from Washington, where he met US President Donald Trump and secured an agreement for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptor missiles under licence. He repeated his call for allies to supply air defence missiles, saying the protection of lives depended directly on their willingness.

Overnight strikes across Ukraine

Russia launched 74 missiles and 284 drones against targets in Ukraine, with casualties reported primarily in Dnipropetrovsk and Lviv regions. In Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky's hometown, an Iskander-M ballistic missile fired from Russia's Voronezh region struck a private house where a large family lived. Six people were killed, including two girls aged 5 and 12, and eight others were wounded. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defence council, described it as "a dark night" and warned the death toll could rise as emergency workers cleared rubble.

Six more people, including two children, were killed in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava. In the capital Kyiv, one person died and fires broke out in several non-residential buildings in the Sviatoshynskyi and Obolon districts. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russia was attacking with ballistic weapons and urged residents to stay in shelters. In Lviv, close to the Polish border, two apartment buildings were damaged and between 15 and 26 people were injured, with rescue workers searching for those trapped under rubble.

Poland scrambles jets and investigates airspace violation

As the attacks unfolded, Poland scrambled fighter jets and an early warning aircraft as a preventive measure. The Polish armed forces said an unidentified object was detected moving westward in Polish airspace and later crashed near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in the Lublin province, about 80 km from the Ukrainian border. A 10-metre-wide crater and scattered debris were found in a field. Prime Minister Donald Tusk was due to visit the site on Thursday morning. The incident occurred just hours after Zelensky met Tusk in Lublin.

Diplomatic push for air defences

Zelensky's meeting with Trump earlier in the week focused on Ukraine's urgent need for air defence systems. The US president agreed to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot missiles, which are among the few systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. Zelensky stressed that the willingness of partners to supply such missiles directly affects the protection of civilian lives.

It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of people's lives depends directly on their willingness, or lack of willingness, to provide air defence missiles.

The overnight barrage followed a month that the United Nations said was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022, as Russia intensified long-range strikes on towns and cities. Ukraine has escalated its own retaliatory strikes on Russian territory in recent months, partly to pressure Moscow toward negotiations after nearly four-and-a-half years of war.

Retaliatory strike in Russia

In Russia, a warehouse of online retailer Wildberries in the city of Penza caught fire after an overnight attack, injuring one person. Regional Governor Oleg Melnichenko reported the incident. Wildberries, often described as Russia's Amazon, has been targeted in recent Ukrainian strikes.