At least one person has been killed in Russian ballistic missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Multiple explosions were heard in the city at 1:18am local time on Thursday, according to witnesses on the ground. Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to seek shelter as air defenses engaged incoming targets.
Neighboring Poland, a NATO member, scrambled its fighter jets to secure its airspace amid the Russian strikes, the Polish Armed Forces said on social media.
The attack came just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned from Washington, where he met with President Donald Trump. Zelenskyy had warned earlier on Wednesday that a massive Russian strike on Ukraine was likely and that the safety of Ukrainians depended on allies providing anti-missile defenses.
Zelenskyy said Trump agreed to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot missiles domestically. Only US-made Patriot systems are capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, but Ukraine faces a shortage of PAC-3 interceptor missiles, a gap that has worsened since the US-led war on Iran began in February.
Author: Pulse Of Nations Wire Desk
