On March 24th at 4:23 a.m. there was a violation of Polish airspace by a cruise missile launched during the night by a long-range Russian aircraft, wrote the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces on the X platform (formerly Twitter). The targets were cities in western Ukraine.
39 seconds in Polish airspace
The object entered Polish airspace near the town of Oserdów and remained there for 39 seconds. It was observed by military radar systems throughout the flight, it said. All necessary procedures have been initiated to ensure the safety of Polish airspace. Among other things, the Polish and allied air force was activated.
Not the first incident
The Polish military had already discovered that its airspace had been violated by a Russian missile at the end of December. The Foreign Ministry in Warsaw then summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Russian embassy and handed him a note of protest. It called on Russia to “explain the airspace violation incident and immediately stop such activities.”
In November 2022, a rocket hit a Polish village on the border with Ukraine, killing two civilians. The West assumes that it was a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that was used to defend against Russian attacks.
Massive air strikes in Kyiv
Russia carried out massive air strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the Lviv region in the west of the country on Sunday night. “Explosions in the capital. The air defense is working. Do not leave the shelters,” wrote Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko on the online Telegram service. The governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kosytskyi, reported rocket attacks on the district around the city of Stryi, south of Lviv. An air alert had previously been declared throughout Ukraine.
Kiev’s military administration chief Serhiy Popko said on Telegram that the rockets were fired at the capital “in groups” at dawn. Preliminary reports indicate there were no injuries or damage, Popko wrote. The city’s air defenses hit “about a dozen” rockets. “The enemy is continuing its massive rocket terror against Ukraine,” Popko continued. “He is not giving up his goal of destroying Kiev at any cost.”
Rocket attacks on western Ukraine
According to Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy, about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired into the region, targeting critical infrastructure. According to authorities, an unspecified critical infrastructure facility was also hit.
In the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih in the south, falling debris damaged heating and electricity networks, said the administrative head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak. “Several thermal power plants in the city were shut down due to the voltage drop.” That’s why six hospitals, more than 150 schools and 3,000 residential buildings with 76,000 residents are temporarily without heating.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked at night with 29 Ch-101 and CH-555 cruise missiles. They were fired from 14 strategic bombers over the Volga region, said commander Mykola Oleshchuk. In addition, 28 combat drones were launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula. The Ukrainian army intercepted 18 of the cruise missiles and 25 drones. The anti-aircraft defense was deployed in all parts of the country.
