KYIV -- Poland and NATO allies mobilized fighter planes and put ground forces on high alert early on October 5, as Kyiv said Russia had launched a new wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine, including on the Lviv region, near the Polish border, killing at least five people.
"Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness," Poland's operational command said in a social media post.
Poland described the measures as “preventative” actions that were aimed at “securing the airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened region.”
The move comes nearly a month after a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland's airspace, forcing NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices.
The September 10 incident was the first direct encounter between NATO and Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 5 that at least five people were killed, and 10 others were wounded in a “combined Russian attack,” which involved “more than 50 missiles and about 500 drones.” The strikes cut off electricity for tens of thousands of people and damaged buildings and infrastructure.
“Today, the Russians again hit our infrastructure, everything that ensures a normal life for people,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post.
Zelenskyy reiterated Kyiv’s calls for more support from its Western allies as Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears the four-year mark and US efforts in recent months to broker a peace deal have made little progress.
“We need more protection, faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially regarding air defense, to make this aerial terror meaningless. A unilateral cease-fire in the sky is possible, and it can open the way to real diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said.
He added that the United States and the European Union “must act to force [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to stop.”
Ukraine’s air force said that the entire country was put under air raid alerts for several hours, with the most dire warnings of missile and drone strikes issued for the western Lviv region. Local authorities said at least two people were killed in the strikes which also left some areas without electricity.
Andriy Sadoviy, the mayor of the provincial capital, Lviv, said the city's air defense systems were heavily engaged in repelling Russian drone and missile attacks. The city is located about 70 kilometers from the border with Poland.
The mayor said on Telegram that, as of 7:30 a.m. local time, some parts of the city were left without power and that public transport was yet to start running. Sadoviy warned residents that it was "dangerous to go out into the streets."
In the city of Zaporizhzhya, the capital of the southwestern Zaporizhzhya region, provincial Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram that a Russian "combined strike" had killed a woman and wounded nine other people.
"Apartment blocks and private houses were damaged, cars burned. Windows were blown out, yards wrecked,” Fedorov said.
The governor also shared photos-– which he said were from the site of the attack -- showing a partly destroyed building and a burnt-out vehicle.
More than 73,000 customers in Zaporizhzhya were left without electricity in the aftermath of the latest Russian strikes, the governor added.
The Russian-held Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, located some 55 kilometers southwest of the city of Zaporizhzhya has been cut off from external power since September 23.
The latest strikes also targeted the Ivano-Frankivsk region in western Ukraine as well as Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy provinces in the north and northeast, Odesa and Kherson provinces in the south, and the central Kirovohrad region, according to the Telegram post by Zelenskyy.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned the strikes, saying that Russia “is masking its failed summer offensive with terror attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.”
Kallas vowed that the EU will continue “supporting Ukraine as long as needed: finalizing the next sanctions package, ensuring financing, providing weapons.”
“Russia will not stop until forced to,” Kallas said in a social media post on October 5.
Meanwhile, local telegram channels in Russia's Belgorod region near the border reported power outages following a Ukrainian attack on the Luch substation. Outages in the region have become a regular occurrence in recent months following suspected Ukrainian strikes.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, said in a post on Telegram that "there is damage to the energy sector. Emergency crews have gone to the scene."
Putin Warns Against Tomahawk Deliveries
Putin said that relations between Moscow and Washington would be damaged if the United States supplied long-range Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv, enabling it to strike deep into Russia.
"This will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations," Putin said in a video clip aired by Russian state television on October 5.
US Vice President JD Vance said in September that Washington was considering a request by Ukraine to obtain Tomahawks, although it is not known if a final decision has been made.
Tomahawks, which have a range of 2,500 kilometers, would make it possible for Ukraine to reach all of European Russia, including Moscow, if Kyiv got the missiles.
