Aircraft from Poland's air force and other NATO allies were scrambled following Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Poland's RSZ Operational Command said on Friday night that its aircraft were operational, warning people this could cause increased noise levels in the southeastern part of the country.
The announcement came as Russia conducted a mass missile strike on energy facilities across the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv. Ukraine's air force said that it had destroyed 21 out of the 24 missiles.
"Activity of the Russian Federation is being observed in connection with missile strikes carried out against objects located in the territory of Ukraine," a statement by the Polish military on X, formerly Twitter, said. "All necessary procedures to ensure the safety of our airspace have been initiated."
In a follow-up post several hours later, Poland's armed forces said that following another wave of long-range attacks on Ukraine, "Polish and allied aircraft have been activated," according to a translation.
When contacted by Newsweek for comment, the Polish defense ministry referred to its second post on X, adding that it had been maintaining "permanent contact with our operational command which fulfills its duties and activates (Polish) aircraft as well as allies do and did on that night."
Newsweek has contacted NATO for comment.
There was no claim that any Russian missile strayed into Polish airspace. NATO member Poland has said Russia would turn its attention to members of the alliance following Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Other Western leaders have also warned of this, although this has been rejected by Putin.
Putin has made nuclear threats toward the West and deployed atomic weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, and fellow NATO members, Lithuania and Latvia. On Thursday, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said war between Russia and NATO would end with Moscow's "inevitable defeat."
In the overnight strikes on Friday, Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, reported that four of its thermal power plants had suffered serious damage without specifying where the affected facilities were.
Russia has stepped up strikes against Ukrainian critical infrastructure, destroying thermal power plants across the country, including the Trypillia plant, the main electricity supplier to the Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy regions.
Some of Friday night's attacks took place hundreds of miles from the front line. In Lviv Oblast, Russian cruise and hypersonic missiles hit two energy facilities near Stryi and Chervonohrad, according to regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi, while the head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast said an energy facility was targeted in a strike.
Update 04/27/24, 4:35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
Update 04/29/24, 9:01 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the Polish defense ministry.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
