NATO jets scramble after Putin launches huge overnight drone attack on Ukraine

Fighter jets have been scrambled by Poland after Russia's latest raid on Ukraine where Vladimir Putin sent a wave of kamikaze drones and rockets.

Eight people, including a two-year-old girl, have been injured with shrapnel wounds after a bomb hit an apartment building in Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that all of the people were residents of a multi-storey apartment building in the city's Darnytskyi district on the bank of the Dnipro River. One person is understood to be in a serious condition with four people in total in hospital after the attack around midnight, said the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko.

A Russian drone is believed to have encroached NATO country Lithuania leading to the response. Poland said the aircraft were deployed overnight and air defence and radar reconnaissance systems were placed on high alert.

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The Ministry of Defence stated: "Polish and allied aircraft on standby were scrambled and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems were placed on the highest level of combat readiness." It comes a week after both Poland and Sweden scrambled fighter jets after a similar attack from Russia on Ukraine.

Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks saw most of the country under air raid alerts for several hours overnight.

Russia has been hitting Ukraine with attacks over the past few nights with the United States accusing Moscow of dragging out the war. Putin’s forces struck Ukrainian military positions in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions with giant aerial bombs on Saturday night. And the Russians were shown using Grad multiple launch rocket systems in the Krasnoarmeysk section of the frontline in Donetsk region.

Separately, Moscow has issued a nuclear war warning to the West, as Putin showcased in the Baltic Sea how his new sea drones could explode NATO ships.

With Trump due to discuss the Ukrainian war with UK premier Sir Keir Starmer, US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Fox News that the US president is growing “impatient” about Putin’s delaying tactics and failure to end the war.

“I think he is growing increasingly frustrated that despite having very good interaction with Vladimir Putin in phone calls, it never leads to anything so the time has come for some action here, and I think the president has made that abundantly clear,” said Rubio.

“He’s losing his patience, he is losing his willingness to continue to wait for the Russian side to do something here to bring an end to this war. That wasn’t his war, but he wants to see it come to an end.”