UPDATES WITH LATEST STATEMENTS; REVISES DECK, NUMBER OF DRONES SAID TO HAVE CROSSED INTO POLISH AIRSPACE, MINOR EDITS
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine on Wednesday said it shot down hundreds of drones and missiles launched by Russia in an overnight attack, while Poland also accused Moscow of violating its airspace.
A statement by Ukraine’s air force on Telegram claimed air defenses downed 386 of 415 drones, as well as 27 of 43 missiles launched by Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on US social media company X that the attack targeted 15 regions, including Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr, leaving at least one person dead.
Citing Polish statements that “drone-type objects” violated Polish airspace, Zelenskyy said the incident is “another step of escalation.”
He said the attack is an “extremely dangerous precedent” for Europe, calling for pressure on Moscow so that it feels the ongoing conflict “cannot be expanded and will have to be ended.”
“The pause in sanctions has gone on far too long. Delaying restrictions on Russia and its accomplices only means increasing the brutality of the strikes. Sufficient weapons are needed to deter Russia. A strong response is needed – and it can only be a joint response by all partners,” Zelenskyy added.
In a later statement on X, the Ukrainian president said increasing evidence indicates the movement of the "drone-type objects" which crossed Polish airspace was “no accident,” and that they are “recording a much larger scale and deliberate targeting.”
“Ukraine is ready to provide Poland with all the necessary data available regarding this Russian strike. Ukraine is also ready to help Poland build an effective system of warning and protection against such Russian threats,” Zelenskyy said.
He argued that only joint and coordinated action can guarantee “reliable security,” underlining the dispatch of aircraft to shoot down the Russian drones as “highly significant.”
In another statement on X, Zelenskyy claimed that "around two dozen of Russian drones" may have crossed into Polish airspace overnight, though this number is yet to be verified. He added that at least two of the drones crossed into Poland using Belarusian airspace.
Overnight, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command on X said fighter jets belonging to the country and its allies were scrambled as “drone-type objects repeatedly” violated its airspace.
“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” the command said.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said authorities initially recorded 19 violations of its airspace.
Poland has occasionally claimed the crossing of Russian drones and missiles into its airspace during overnight strikes in Ukraine.
Russian authorities did not immediately comment on the Ukrainian and Polish claims, though its Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 122 drones launched by Ukraine.
Meanwhile, authorities in Belarus said the military shot down some drones that went astray and crossed into its airspace during the overnight attacks, and that both Belarusian and Polish forces on duty exchanged information on approaching drones.