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Russia launched nearly 400 drones and dozens of missiles across Ukraine overnight Monday, triggering NATO to scramble fighter jets in neighboring countries, according to reports.
The massive aerial assault killed at least four people and injured more than two dozen, with strikes hitting multiple regions including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, The Associated Press reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
Poland and Romania both scrambled fighter jets as Russian strikes approached NATO airspace, East2West reported, with Warsaw placing air defenses on the “highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said.
“Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, Polish and allied air forces have begun operating in our airspace,” Poland’s operational command said, according to East2West.
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Hours earlier, two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled in fellow NATO state Romania as Russian drones attacked Ukraine near the River Danube, the outlet reported. The Danube forms part of the border between Ukraine and Romania.
Ukrainian military leaders said Russian forces have intensified attacks along the roughly 750-mile front line, with hundreds of assaults reported in recent days.
The Institute for the Study of War said the escalation suggests Moscow’s long-anticipated spring-summer offensive is now underway, according to The Associated Press.
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Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched nearly 400 drones. Ukrainian officials later said most were intercepted or disrupted, although some were able to hit their targets, according to East2West.
Russia also launched 23 cruise missiles and seven ballistic missiles at Ukraine during the night, hitting at least 10 locations across the country, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Ukrainian civilians have endured relentless barrages since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor more than four years ago. U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv over the past year have brought no respite, with Russia rejecting Ukraine’s ceasefire offer.
The latest strikes came after Ukraine hit Russia’s largest Baltic port, Primorsk, in a pinpoint attack a day earlier, leaving the key export hub in flames, East2West reported.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, threatened “dire” consequences over what he said was Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow missiles, which this month hit and damaged a microelectronics plant in Russia’s Bryansk region.
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“The British, without whose participation the use of Storm Shadow missiles is simply impossible, decided to remind everyone of both Ukraine and themselves,” he said. “However, any action has consequences. And for everyone involved in the tragedy in Bryansk, the consequences will be dire.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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