Russian strikes kill 3 in Kyiv, prompt NATO to scramble aircraft in Poland, Romania
The strikes and fires left a dense fog hanging over Kyiv, authorities said.
LONDON -- NATO military aircraft were scrambled in both Poland and Romania overnight into Wednesday morning, as Russia launched its latest deadly drone and missile attack on Ukraine, which authorities said set multiple fires in Kyiv and left a dense fog hanging over the capital.
Ukraine's air force said that Russia launched 188 drones -- 86 of which were jet-powered -- and an unspecified number of ballistic and cruise missiles into the country overnight. The air force said that five missiles and 155 drones were destroyed or neutralized, with impacts reported across 18 locations. Kyiv was the focus of the attack, the air force said.
At least three people were killed and six others injured by strikes in Kyiv, according to updates posted to Telegram by Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that the strikes caused multiple fires in the capital, noting the "dense fog" hanging over the city on Wednesday morning.
"This is a consequence of previous shelling. The remnants of smoke and soot have risen to the upper layers of the atmosphere, and a high-pressure system is temporarily pressing them down to the ground," the SES wrote in a post to Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that the overnight attacks were "intense" and focused on "the energy infrastructure of Kyiv and the surrounding region."
Fourteen people were injured nationwide, Zelenskyy said, with attacks reported in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Cherkasy regions.
Zelenskyy thanked foreign partners who have recently committed new air defense support to Ukraine. "Every interceptor missile truly saves lives. And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need. We must do everything to ensure that Russia's strategy of ballistic and drone terror fails," he wrote.
Beyond Ukraine's western borders, the latest wave of Russian attacks prompted activity in Poland, Romania and Moldova.
In Moldova -- which borders western Ukraine and is not a NATO member -- the national police force said in a post to Facebook that a drone exploded and damaged a communications antenna in the Anenii Noi district in the center of the country. Police personnel were dispatched to the site to investigate the incident, police said.
Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command said in a post to X on Wednesday morning that military aviation was active in response to Russian strikes in western Ukraine "using jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles."
Romania's Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its forces "detected an aerial target maneuvering east of Izmail, on Ukrainian territory, near the river border with Romania."
Two Spanish F-18 jets were scrambled "to monitor the situation," the ministry added. "No incursions into national airspace were detected," it said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its latest attacks on Ukraine were aimed at targets including "a communications center in Kyiv, energy infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region that support military production and infrastructure in the port of Izmail."
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces also shot down at least 384 Ukrainian drones overnight.
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