Poland to demand Russian explanation over missile incursion during attack on Ukraine

A Russian cruise missile launched at the Lviv region in western Ukraine violated Poland ’s airspace, officials said. Ukraine said it hit two Russian ships in Crimea

In Ukraine’s Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy said about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at critical infrastructure in the region

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A missile explodes in the sky over Kyiv during a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital early on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:29pm, 24 Mar 2024Updated: 8:55pm, 24 Mar 2024

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv came under a “massive” Russian air attack early on Sunday, officials said, with Polish forces placed on heightened readiness as a cruise missile briefly violated the country’s airspace.

Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with Sunday’s strikes coming after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut.

Russia launched 57 missiles and drones on Ukraine in the early hours, including attacking Kyiv and the western region of Lviv that is near the Polish border.

“On March 24 at 4:23am (0323 GMT), there was a violation of Polish airspace by one of the cruise missiles launched overnight by long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,” the armed forces said on the social media platform X.

“The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds. During the entire flight, it was observed by military radar systems.”

Poland will demand an explanation from Moscow over “a new violation of airspace” by the Russian missile, the country’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“Above all, we ask the Russian Federation to end its terrorist air strikes against the population and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and to focus on the country’s own internal problems,” ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski added in a statement.