Poland Scrambles Jets as Russia Strikes Ukraine Near Border

Reuters

A car burns in front of an apartment building damaged during overnight Russian strikes in Zaporizhzh

NATO member Poland announced on Sunday, 5 October 2025, that it had scrambled aircraft to safeguard its airspace after Russia launched a wave of airstrikes on Ukraine, with Ukrainian officials reporting missiles and drones hitting the Lviv region close to the Polish border.

“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said in a statement on X.

Eastern-flank NATO states have been on heightened alert in recent weeks, following Poland’s interception of suspected Russian drones in September. Drone incursions and sightings, including in Copenhagen and Munich, have caused disruption to European aviation.

In Lithuania, Vilnius Airport was closed for several hours overnight after reports of balloons approaching the area late on Saturday. According to Flightradar24, commercial flights early on Sunday were being rerouted along flight paths typically used when Lublin and Rzeszów airports in Poland — both near the Ukrainian border — are shut. Reuters was unable to independently verify this information, and no notices of disruption were published by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

All of Ukraine was placed under air raid alerts overnight. The Air Force issued its most urgent warnings for the Lviv region, where residents reported drones and missiles targeting the city.

Andriy Sadovyi, mayor of Lviv, said air defence units were heavily engaged in repelling both drone and missile strikes. By early morning, parts of the city were without electricity and public transport services were suspended. “It is dangerous to go out into the streets,” Sadovyi wrote on Telegram.

Elsewhere, a late-night strike on Zaporizhzhia, capital of the frontline region of the same name, left one civilian dead and nine injured, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov. “Apartment blocks and private houses were damaged, cars burned. Windows were blown out, yards wrecked,” he said. More than 73,000 residents were left without power.

The nearby Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — Europe’s largest — has been cut off from external power since 23 September. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Friday appealed to both Ukraine and Russia to show the “political will” necessary to ensure safety around the facility.

Source: Reuters



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