Russian ballistic missiles kill at least 8 across Ukraine; Poland investigates airspace breach and crater near border

Night of strikes

Russian forces launched a large-scale overnight assault on Ukraine, firing dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones at targets across the country. President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned hours earlier, based on intelligence, that a major attack was imminent. The strikes hit residential areas in at least four cities, killing at least eight civilians and wounding many more. In Kyiv, two waves of explosions were reported: the first shortly after 01:00 local time and the second before 04:00.

Kryvyi Rih family killed

The deadliest single strike occurred in a village on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine. An Iskander-M ballistic missile, fired from the Russian region of Voronezh, scored a direct hit on a private house where a large family was living.

A direct hit by an Iskander-M ballistic missile, fired from Voronezh, struck a private house where a large family lived, killing two girls aged 5 and 12 and four adults.

Eight other people were wounded, including two children aged 6 and 15, according to Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration.

Kyiv and Poltava

In the capital Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that ballistic missiles were used and that several residential buildings caught fire. One person was killed. A separate strike in the Poltava region also left one civilian dead, local authorities said. The attacks on Kyiv came in two distinct waves, with the second striking just before dawn.

Lviv apartment buildings damaged

The western city of Lviv, roughly 70 kilometres from the Polish border, was hit around 04:40. Two apartment blocks were damaged by Russian missiles. Regional officials reported 15 wounded, and rescue workers were still searching for people trapped under rubble on Thursday morning. Some earlier reports had put the number of wounded at six, but the regional administration later raised the figure.

Polish airspace violation

As the Russian barrage unfolded, Poland scrambled fighter jets and placed its air defence and radar systems on high alert. Air raid sirens briefly sounded in the eastern city of Lublin. The Polish military later confirmed that an unknown object had been observed in the country's airspace and appeared to have crashed near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia. Firefighters were examining a crater in a field there on Thursday morning.

Zelensky's appeal

Zelensky used the attack to renew his call for advanced air defence systems from international allies. Ukraine has repeatedly warned that it lacks enough sophisticated interceptors to stop ballistic missiles, which travel at high speed and are difficult to shoot down. The overnight assault, with its mix of ballistic missiles and drones, underscored that vulnerability.