Western Ukraine launches large-scale airstrikes, Poland scrambles planes to protect airspace

NATO member Poland scrambled jets on Monday morning to ensure airspace safety after Ukrainian officials reported missiles and drones “raining down” in the Lviv region near the Polish border.

Air raid alerts were sounded across Ukraine, including warnings of missile and drone attacks in the Lviv region.

Andriy Sadovyi, mayor of Lviv, a city in western Ukraine about 70 km from the Polish border, said the city’s air defense systems were actively involved in repelling the Russian drones and missiles.

Witnesses told Reuters that explosions were heard, which were believed to be the air defense systems being activated. As of 7:30 a.m., many parts of the city were without power and public transport was still not operational.

In southeastern Ukraine, more than 73,000 customers were also without power.

There has been no comment from Russia on the attacks on the night of October 4.

On the same day, the Polish Combat Command said that its and allied aircraft were scrambled to protect its airspace, while ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance systems were put on full alert.

NATO members on its eastern flank are on high alert after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace in September. Drone sightings and airspace intrusions, including in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Munich (Germany), have led to chaos in the European aviation industry.

Lithuania's Vilnius airport was closed for several hours after reports of a series of balloons possibly heading towards the airport late on October 4.