On Thursday, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from his visit to Washington, Russia launched airstrikes on Ukraine that killed more than a dozen people. And one of those missiles landed in Poland.
According to a joint report by Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters, the Russian attacks were widespread, including a strike on the city of Lviv, which led neighboring Poland to scramble fighter jets.
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, flies over Phoenix during the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Nov. 7, 2021. F-16 pilots assigned to the 56th and 944th FW, which train U.S. Air Force F-16 pilots, performed a 4-ship formation flyover at the conclusion of the U.S. National Anthem at the Phoenix Raceway to kick-off the championship race. Luke AFB continually bolsters partnerships with various organizations around Arizona, gaining support from the surrounding community.
U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons intercept two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers during exercise Amalgam Dart 21-2, March 23, 2021. The exercise will run from March 20-26 and range from the Beaufort Sea to Thule, Greenland and extend south down the Eastern Atlantic to the U.S. coast of Maine. Amalgam Dart 21-2 provides NORAD the opportunity to hone homeland defense skills as Canadian, U.S., and NATO forces operate together in the Arctic. A bi-national Canadian and American command, NORAD employs network space-based, aerial and ground based sensors, air-to-air refueling tankers, and fighter aircraft controlled by a sophisticated command and control network to deter, detect and defend against aerial threats that originate outside or within North American airspace. NATO E-3 Early Warning Aircraft, Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter aircraft, CP-140 long-range patrol aircraft, CC-130 search and rescue and tactical aircraft, and a CC-150T air refueler; as well as U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft, KC-10 Extender refueler, KC-46 Pegasus, KC-135 Stratotanker, as well as C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft will participate in the exercise. (U.S. Air National Guard courtesy photo)
Explosions were also heard in the capital of Kyiv, where a 31-year-old man was reported killed. Six people were killed near Kryvyi Rih, Zelensky’s hometown.
On Thursday, Zelensky posted a picture to social media of the family killed in the attack on Kryvyi Rih. The Russians, the president said, “used their ballistic missile to destroy an ordinary house belonging to an ordinary family in Radushne, near Kryvyi Rih.”
The Ukrainian leader also posted a video of the Russian missile strike on Radushne.
Fox News, in a report about the strikes, listed the death toll at 13 from the strike across Ukraine. Fox reported that Russia launched 70 missiles and roughly 280 drones across Ukraine.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, Fox said, urged residents to seek shelter. Oleksandr Vilkul, who leads Kryvyi Rih’s defense council, described the attacks on Telegram as “A dark night,” the report said.
This followed a warning Zelensky had shared from Air Force Commander Anatolii Kryvonozhko that Russia was planning a “massive attack.”
Poland’s Latest Scramble
Fox News also reported that Poland scrambled F-16 fighter jets amid the attacks. Polish forces, Fox said, “detected an unidentified object moving west” at about 4 a.m. local time. An F-16 was dispatched to intercept it, although the object later disappeared from radar, while a crater was later discovered in farmland in Tarnawa-Kolonia.
No one was injured in the incident.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said, per Fox, that the object was likely a Russian Kh-101 missile.
Ukraine’s acting defense minister, Andrii Sybiha, also condemned the cruise missile crossing into Poland, and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
Tusk, the New York Times reported, added that another object briefly crossed into Polish airspace before turning away, but that “there’s no reason to believe the target was Poland.” Zelensky and Tusk had met in Poland on Wednesday, and the Times stated that the Russian missile landed just 31 miles south of where the two leaders had been the day before. Tusk, who visited the crater site, described this as “an unusual coincidence.”
Ukraine, following a day of Russian attacks, once again called for the delivery of more air defense systems, a major topic of Zelensky’s recent visit to Washington.
NATO Speaks Up
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte went on to accuse Russia of violating Poland’s airspace during the attack and said on social media that he had spoken to Prime Minister Tusk.
Rutte also condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine more broadly and vowed to “continue to strengthen our readiness to defend against any threat, including missile attacks.”
The crossing of the border is significant because Poland, which borders Ukraine, is a member of NATO, and an attack on it could trigger Article 5 and lead to a larger war.
The New York Times reported that the apparent airspace violation could risk a “direct confrontation” between Russia and NATO.
In 2022, Poland was struck by a missile, which fell in its territory and killed two people, although that turned out to have been a Ukrainian air defense missile.
In September of 2025, NATO jets shot down Russian drones that had crossed into Poland, which marked the first time in the alliance’s history that NATO planes fired on threats in NATO’s airspace. In that case, Dutch and Polish aircraft had been scrambled.
Help on the Way from the EU
There is, however, help on the way to assist Ukraine in dealing with such major attacks.
The European Union announced Thursday that it had disbursed 3.47 billion euros, the equivalent of $3.98 billion, to Ukraine, to help purchase more drones and other air defense equipment.
Those funds were part of the European Union’s 90-billion-pound support loan to Ukraine.
More disbursements from those EU funds are expected in the coming weeks.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
