Poland scrambles jets as Russia kills 8 in Ukraine strikes

Russia launched a large-scale overnight barrage across Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least eight people and striking cities from Kyiv to Lviv. In the capital, one person was killed and two injured, with fires reported in non-residential areas, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The Dnipropetrovsk region saw six fatalities, including two children, while one person died in Poltava. The heaviest blow came in President Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, where two girls aged 5 and 12 were among six killed by a direct Iskander-M ballistic missile strike launched from Russia's Voronezh region. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city's defense council, warned the death toll could rise as rubble is cleared.

NATO member Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace as the attacks extended westward. The escalation follows Zelensky's return from the United States, where he announced that President Donald Trump agreed to grant Ukraine licenses for Patriot missile systems — a critical defensive asset against Russian ballistic and cruise missiles. Air raid alerts sounded across most Ukrainian regions, with a Reuters witness reporting explosions in Kyiv. The coordinated assault appears to fulfill Zelensky's earlier warnings of an anticipated large-scale Russian bombardment as the war enters a new phase.