Poland scrambles planes as Russia strikes western Ukraine

Missile and drone attack on Lviv, close to border with the NATO member, kills at least seven people.

NATO-member Poland has scrambled aircraft as Russia launched air strikes on Ukraine‘s western city of Lviv close to its border.

Polish and “allied” aircraft were scrambled overnight on Tuesday as Russia launched a major attack on Lviv, according to Reuters news agency. It was the third time in eight days that the NATO member’s defences had been activated since Russia stepped up its bombardment across Ukraine.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed in Lviv, with many more injured in drone and missile attacks that saw historic buildings destroyed in the heart of the city, according to regional officials.

Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv city, said three children were among the dead.

In a video posted on the Telegram messaging app that showed the mayor among the debris of a destroyed building, he said more than 50 structures, from schools to homes and clinics, most of them in the heart of the city, had been damaged.

The operational command of Poland’s armed forces said on X platform that “Polish and allied aircraft” had been scrambled due to the Russian attack in western Ukraine.

“This is another very busy night for the entire air defence system,” the post read.

Russia also hit Kyiv and several other regions with missiles on Wednesday morning, but no immediate damage was reported.

Moscow has been pounding Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones over the past two weeks. Russian military bloggers claim that the step up in air strikes is a response to Kyiv’s incursion into its territory in Kursk.

The deadliest single attack this year was seen on Tuesday, as a military institute in the central town of Poltava was hit. The strike, by a pair of ballistic missiles, killed more than 50 and wounded hundreds.

Russia has yet to comment on the attack on Poltava or Wednesday’s strikes on Lviv and Kyiv. It has long insisted that its strikes only aim at military, energy and transport infrastructure targets, not civilians.

Poland beefing up defence

On Tuesday, Warsaw announced new military deals worth $520m, the latest move in a drive to beef up its defence prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Poland currently spends 4 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence – the highest ratio of any NATO member – and hopes to boost the number to 4.7 percent next year.

Last month, Warsaw signed a $10bn deal to buy 96 Apache attack helicopters from US manufacturer Boeing. They will replace outdated Russian Mi-24 helicopters.

Warsaw has also announced a deal to buy hundreds of AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, as well as a contract for 48 launchers for US-designed Patriot air defence systems.

Poland’s army has 200,000 soldiers, making it NATO’s third largest after the United States and Turkey, and the biggest in the European Union.