Ukraine under fire: Widespread missile strikes spark crisis
Throughout Ukraine, just before 1:00 AM Eastern Time, alarm sirens wailed as Russian strategic bombers and MiG-31 fighters launched an attack. The first missiles have already entered Ukrainian airspace, and reports of explosions are emerging.
The Russian military initiated the attack with strategic bombers, and the first missiles entered the airspace around 1:00 AM Eastern Time. Alarm sirens wailed across the entire country.
According to monitoring channels, four Tu-95 bombers, three Tu-22M3 bombers, and MiG-31 fighters are currently in the air.
At the time the missiles were launched, dozens of Russian drones were over Ukraine, and the Ukrainian army engaged throughout the night.
At 1:55 AM Eastern Time, explosions were reported in the Poltava, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Khmelnytskyi regions.
One of the missiles reportedly hit a building in Poltava. Emergency services are working at the site.
According to Ukrenergo, power outages have been implemented in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kirovohrad regions due to the missile attack.
Poland scrambled fighters
In response to the attack, the Polish Operational Command of the Armed Forces reported that "operational activity of Polish and allied aviation in our airspace has begun."
"In accordance with applicable procedures, the Operational Commander of the Armed Forces activated all available forces and means at his disposal. Alert fighter pairs were scrambled, and ground-based air defense and radar recognition systems reached the highest state of readiness," reports the Operational Command of the Armed Forces.
