NATO fighter jets were scrambled overnight as Russia launched major attacks across Ukraine early on Saturday. The Ukrainian air force said Kyiv was targeted by missiles and drones, while regions in the north-east and south of the country also came under attack.
Poland scrambled fighter jets in response to the attacks, which came just a day before crunch peace talks between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday. The US President is set to welcome his Ukrainian counterpart to Florida as the two leaders look to bring an end to the war which is approaching its fifth year. Mr Zelensky said a 20-point peace plan is “90% ready”, adding: “Our goal is to bring everything to 100%.”
Mr Zelensky told Axios he is prepared to hold a referundum on the peace plan, as long as Moscow agrees to a ceasefire of at least 60 days.
Despite the optimism, Mr Trump said the Ukrainian President “doesn’t have anything until I approve it”.
Local authorities in Kyiv said at least eight people, including a 16-year-old child, were injured in the strikes on the city.
Explosions boomed across Kyiv for hours as ballistic missiles and drones hit the capital.
The attack began in the early morning hours Saturday and was continuing as day broke.
The head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said two multi-storey residential blocks in different areas of the city had been hit.
Ukraine‘s Emerency Service also reported strikes on industrial and residential buildings in the wider Kyiv region.
Emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house in the Vyshhorod area.
Two airports in south-eastern Poland, Rzeszów and Lublin, close to the border with Ukraine, were temporarily closed due to the strikes.
Poland confirmed its fighter jets had been scrambled shortly after 2am, with their mission ending around 7am.
American and Spanish aircraft based in the region supported the Polish jets, while the Dutch military also provided assistance.
There was no violation of Poland’s airspace, Warsaw’s Operational Command said.
It came a day after NATO ally Romania scrambled fighter jets in the early hours of Boxing Day over Russian attacks on south-west Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s forces targeted energy and port infrastructure facilities in Odesa and the surrounding region close to the estuary of the Danube River.
Huge flames were seen at a power facility in Port Izmail, just hundreds of yards from Romania.
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