NATO jets rush to protect airspace during Russian attack

Poland scrambled military aircraft Friday night to protect its airspace during a Russian missile attack that “covered the entire territory of Ukraine,” according to Polish military sources on social media.

Poland has been a member of NATO since 1999, and was the first former Warsaw Pact nation to join the alliance.

“It was a long, busy night for the entire air defense system in Poland,” the Polish Armed Forces General Command wrote on social media.

“Currently, due to the reduced level of threat of missile strikes by Russian aviation on the territory of Ukraine, the operation of Polish and allied aviation in Polish airspace has been ended and the deployed forces and resources have returned to standard operational activities,” the X post continued, according to the translation offered by the platform.

“A massive long-range missile attack by the Russian Federation covered the entire territory of Ukraine, including the regions bordering Poland,” it explained. “The strikes were carried out using cruise missiles, SHAHED unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles launched from the Black Sea region.”

To byla dluga, pracowita noc dla całego systemu obrony powietrznej w Polsce.

Obecnie, ze względu na zmniejszenie poziomu zagrożenia uderzeniami rakietowymi rosyjskiego lotnictwa na terytorium Ukrainy, operowanie polskiego i sojuszniczego lotnictwa w polskiej przestrzeni… pic.twitter.com/NkbX56Gbjl

— Dowództwo Operacyjne (@DowOperSZ) June 1, 2024

The post concluded with a promise that the Polish military “monitors the situation on the territory of Ukraine on an ongoing basis and remains on constant readiness to ensure the safety of Polish airspace.”

According to Newsweek, Polish forces remained alert for nearly three hours during the Russian missile attack.

Ukraine reportedly shot down “35 out of 53 missiles and 46 of the 47 attack drones” Russia employed against it Friday night.

The attack seemed to have been aimed largely at civilian infrastructure like power plants, with at least five energy-related targets having been targeted, according to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko.

DTEK, the largest private energy company in the country, reported “serious damage” to two thermal power plants it operated, Newsweek reported.

The entire nation was under an air alert.

Ukraine shares borders with seven countries, four of which — Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia — are NATO members.

Newsweek said it had reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment, but did not report any response.

The massive air attack came as reports have indicated that the U.S. has granted Ukraine permission to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike at military targets within Russian territory.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has recently said “repeatedly” that NATO needed to reconsider the limits member states had put upon Ukraine’s ability to take the battle to Russian forces, France 24 noted Thursday.