KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia launched its third massive missile attack on Ukraine in the past four days, and the second to target the capital of Kyiv, with Poland’s military saying that one of the missiles launched at western Ukraine briefly entered its airspace Sunday.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers. An air alert in the capital lasted for more than two hours as rockets entered Kyiv in groups from the north.
He said the attacks were launched from the Engels district in the Saratov region of Russia.
KYIV, UKRAINE – MARCH 24: Ukrainian forces continue to investigate the area where rocket fragments fell in a park in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or damage in the capital, he said.
The operation command of Poland, a member of NATO, said in a statement that there was a violation of Polish airspace at 4:23 a.m. (0323GMT) by one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia against towns in western Ukraine.
The object entered near the Polish town of Oserdów and stayed there for 39 seconds, the statement said. It added that military radar systems observed the missile the entire time and all necessary procedures were launched to ensure the safety of Polish airspace.
Poland’s Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told reporters in a televised news conference that the Russian missile would have been shot down had there been any indication that it was heading towards a target in Poland. He said the missile penetrated Polish airspace about 1,000-2,000 meters (0.6 miles to 1.2 miles)
The Polish foreign ministry said it would “demand explanations from the Russian Federation in connection with another violation of the country´s airspace.”
“Above all, we call on the Russian Federation to stop the terrorist air attacks on the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine, end the war, and address the country´s internal problems,” the statement read.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, there have been a number of intrusions into Polish airspace.
In 2022, two Poles were killed in a missile blast. Western officials blamed those deaths on a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray but also accused Russia of culpability because it started the war and the Ukrainian missiles were launched in self-defense.
Meanwhile, one person was killed and four wounded in a Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula Saturday night, city governor Mikhail Razvozhaev said on his Telegram channel.