NATO has scrambled jets after missiles and drones rained down on a city near the Polish border, killing at least two people.
The city of Lviv – only 43 miles from the Polish border – was shrouded in choking smoke from raging fires after suffering its worst attack of the entire war.
ReutersPeople take shelter inside an underground parking during Russian drone and missile strikes in Lviv[/caption]
ReutersA car burns in front of an apartment building damaged during Russian drone and air strikes in Zaporizhzhia[/caption]
ReutersLviv’s mayor said the strikes were a ‘massive enemy attack’[/caption]
Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, said: “As a result of a combined strike by UAVs and cruise missiles in the Lviv region, two people were killed and two more were injured.”
One local media outlet said amid the carnage: “In Lviv, it is just hell right now.”
Poland’s operational command said: “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness.”
Meanwhile, a separate wave of Vladimir Putin’s hellish attacks in Zaporizhzhia killed at least one person and wounded 10 others over Saturday night, bringing the total death toll to three.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported a series of explosions in his city, with “civilian facilities” and “residential buildings” hit.
“Another round of explosions can be heard in Lviv. Air defenses are active. Stay in a safe place!” he wrote.
Describing the barrage as a “massive enemy attack”, Sadovyi told how the city’s air defence systems first battled an army of Russian drones before a wave of missiles rained down.
He said: “After the Russian shelling, several fires are still burning in the city.
“It was a very difficult night. Let’s hold on!”
According to monitoring channels, 12 Shahed drones were heading towards Lviv and encircling the city.
Putin’s attacks also included terrifying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and around 700 drones in total.
Eastern-flank Nato members are on high alert after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace in September.
And drone sightings and air incursions, including in Copenhagen and Munich, have led to chaos in European aviation.
Lithuania’s airport in Vilnius was closed for several hours overnight after reports of a balloons heading towards the airport on Saturday night.
According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, early on Sunday, commercial flights were using routings typically used when Poland‘s Lublin and Rzeszow airports near the border with Ukraine were closed.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for several hours over Saturday night, with the most devastating strikes hitting the Lviv region.
Following the lethal strikes in Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said: “Apartment blocks and private houses were damaged, cars burned.
“Windows were blown out, yards wrecked.”
The region also saw power cuts which left some 70,000 residents without electricity.
It comes after mad Vlad launched another brutal drone strike on a Ukrainian passenger train, injuring at least 30.
Emergency services rushed to Shotska, in Ukraine’s Sumy region, after the “savage” attack, which left the carriage fiercely burning and ripped apart.
And last week, swarms of drones and a barrage of missiles were fired across several Ukrainian regions in one of the biggest attacks of the war so far.
Ukraine‘s military said that Russia had launched 595 drones and 48 missiles overnight and its air defences shot down 568 drones and 43 missiles.
Missiles flew over Kyiv – the worst hit city – as anti-aircraft fire rang out for several hours after the Russian forces launched the blitz.
ReutersRussian attacks on Zaporizhzhia killed at least one person[/caption]
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