Deadly strikes on Kyiv after Zelenskyy warns of ‘massive’ Russian attack

Polish PM heads to scene of crater thought to have occurred during deadly wave of attacks on Ukraine

Russia has been accused of violating Polish airspace after a missile exploded in a field in the east of the country during a massive air raid that killed 13 people in neighbouring Ukraine .

Polish authorities said that an explosion, near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia, close to Lublin, had created a 10-metre-wide crater, occurring as Russia staged new missile attacks on Ukraine.

Residents of Tarnawa-Kolonia reported hearing an explosion at about 4am that shook the windows of their homes, police said.

The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk , was to head to the scene of the explosion in a field about 50 miles from the Ukrainian border.

As the attacks on Ukraine, Poland – a Nato member – scrambled fighter ​jets to protect ​its airspace, its armed forces said.

Tusk ‌told an ​emergency ​meeting: “All the indications are that it was a Russian ‌Kh-101 ballistic missile, but we ​want to be 100% certain about ⁠the type of ​missile and ​who ​launched it.” ​He added that the Polish military had been preparing to shoot down the missile when it fell in a field.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on X that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had crossed into Poland.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

António Costa, president of the EU council, said on X: “Last night, Russia launched a massive combined strike against Ukraine. During the attack, Polish airspace was also violated, underlining once again that Russia’s aggression is a threat to the security of Europe as a whole.”

At least 13 people in Ukraine – including one in Kyiv – died in Thursday’s attacks, which extended as far ⁠as the western city of Lviv.

A missile strike in the central city of Kryvyi Rih – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town – killed at least six people, including two girls, aged five and 12, the head of the town’s military administration said. Zelenskyy had warned the country hours in advance of Moscow launching the massive attack.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the ‌head of the defence council, said: “In a village on the outskirts of Kryvyi Rih, a direct strike by an Iskander-M ballistic missile, launched from Voronezh, hit a private house where a large family lived, killing girls aged five and 12 and four adults.” Eight more people were wounded, he said.

Another six people, including two children, were killed in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava.

The military administration for Kyiv confirmed one death, with the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, reporting fires in several districts. Earlier, he posted: “The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic weapons. The threat of further attack remains present. Stay in shelters!”

In ‌Lviv, close to Poland, rescue workers were scrambling to clear rubble to reach those trapped after Russian missiles damaged two blocks of flats and injured 26 people, officials said.

Late on Wednesday, Zelenskyy had posted: “The Russians prepared a massive attack several days ago, and there is a high probability that the strike will be carried out tonight … Please, in all regions of Ukraine, pay attention to air raid alerts today and stay safe.”

Zelenskyy also repeated his request to Ukraine’s allies to supply Kyiv with the missiles its air defence system lacked. “It is important that our partners fully ​understand what is happening and that the protection of people’s lives depends directly on their willingness, or lack of willingness, to provide air defence missiles.”

Russia’s defence ministry, commenting on the strikes, said it had used land, sea and air-launched missiles, as well as strike drones, during the raid and claimed it had targeted military industrial facilities.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the ⁠Ukrainian military struck four Russian ⁠tankers ​in the Black Sea ⁠and the Sea of ⁠Azov, Ukraine’s drone ​forces ‌commander, ‌Robert Brovdi, said.

Brovdi said on the Telegram app that 205 tankers – ​130 in the Sea of Azov ⁠and 75 ​in the ​Black ​Sea –had ​been ‌hit in the ​past ​three weeks.