Russia launched a massive attack against Ukraine during the early hours of Thursday, in which the bombings caused the death of 13 Ukrainians, including two children, in an offensive that could have had a direct impact on Polish territory.
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The authorities of the European country, a NATO member, are investigating the possible impact of a projectile on the border with Ukraine, in the town of Tarnawa-Kolonia, where the police reported a strong explosion and discovered a crater ten meters in diameter, as well as scattered remains of an as yet unidentified object in a field.
As in previous attacks of this scale, air raid sirens were sounded in the Lublin region due to the crossing of missiles between both sides, and the Polish government deployed fighters to ensure the protection of its airspace.
Poland investigates a possible impact
A crater ten meters in diameter in a field after an explosion and scattered remains of an unidentified object
In Ukraine, alerts sounded in most regions, and explosions were even reported in the capital where one person died. Another six people, including two children, died in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions. In Zelenski’s hometown, Krivi Rig, located in the center of the country, two girls aged 5 and 12 were among the six fatalities, while another eight people were injured in what Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defense council, described as a direct hit from a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile.
The attacks come as President Volodymyr Zelenski returns from the United States, where he stated that President Donald Trump agreed to grant Ukraine licenses for Patriot missiles. Emergency services warned that the number of deaths could increase as emergency teams remove the debris.
In Lviv, near the border with Poland, rescue teams were working to clear debris and reach trapped people after Russian missiles damaged two apartment buildings and injured 26 people, according to authorities. Hours earlier, the Ukrainian president warned of the possibility of a large-scale Russian attack, stating that the security of Ukrainians depends on the willingness of their allies to provide missile defense systems.
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“It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of people’s lives depends directly on their willingness,” Zelenski wrote on Telegram. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that its forces attacked what it called military facilities in various areas of Ukraine, from the capital, Kiev, to Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as three cargo ships.
Russia claimed to have shot down a total of 258 drones during the night, according to its Ministry of Defense. The figure includes drones shot down over areas of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
