RUSSIAN forces launched devastating strikes on Ukraine just hours after violating Nato airspace – forcing the alliance to scramble fighter jets.
At least one person has been killed and 13 others injured after Russian bombers struck Dnipropetrovsk and other parts of the country.
East2WestRussia strikes Dnipro with missiles and drones in massive overnight attack[/caption]
ReutersCars on fire at the site of a residential building damaged during a Russian drone strike[/caption]
ReutersOne of the Russian mig-31 fighter jets that flew into Estonian airspace[/caption]
Ukraine issued a nationwide air alert after the Russians launcehd 580 drones and 40 cruise and ballistic missiles overnight, president Volodymyr Zelenksy said.
Mykola Kalashnyk, the head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said: “The enemy is attacking with strike drones and missiles. Peaceful settlements of the region are under attack.”
The mayor of Mykolaiv said his city was hit with Iskander ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones in the overnight carnage.
Cars were set ablaze in Kyiv with the second attack in three days on Bucha, a district where earlier in the war hundreds were tortured, raped, and executed by Putin’s forces.
Pavlohrad was hit with cluster ballistic missiles.
Cruise missiles Kh-101 have already reached the western Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions.
The strikes came just a few hours after three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonia’s airspace “without clearance” – triggering an emergency Nato meeting.
The fighter jets reportedly flew over Vaindloo Island and stayed there for nearly 12 minutes.
Donald Trump responded to the reckless violation and said the incursion could cause “big trouble”.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “going to have a look” at the reports adding, “I don’t love it”.
He said: “They’re going to be briefing me in a short while, so I’ll let you know about it tonight or tomorrow.
“I don’t love it. I don’t love it when that happens. Could be big trouble.”
MiG-31s are capable of carrying terrifying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Incursions like this have happened before, but they rarely last this long.
While in Estonian airspace, the jets circled in the sky as though waiting for a response.
All three planes’ transponders were turned off at the time, according to reports.
Nato allies scrambled Italian F-35s to repel the the Russian jets.
Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires in the wake of the shameless incursion.
A Russian MIG-31 fighter jet flying above the Baltic sea
PM Michal said: “Estonia has decided to request Nato Article 4 consultations over a violation of its airspace by Russian fighter jets”.
Under Article 4, a Nato member can convene urgent talks when it feels its “territorial integrity, political independence or security” are at risk.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna said that Putin’s forces have already violated his country’s airspace four times this year.
He added: “But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.
“Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure.”
Shortly afterwards, Polish authorities reported a “low flyover” of Russian military planes near an oil and gas platform.
A border guard spokesperson said: “Services responsible for Poland’s security continuously monitor the situation around critical maritime infrastructure, including beyond Poland’s territorial waters.”
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East2WestPutin strikes Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine hours after violating Nato airspace[/caption]