Poland has deployed fighter jets just hours after a senior military official cautioned that Russia is gearing up for conflict against NATO.
The Eastern European nation‘s military forces shared on social media specifics of “preventative” measures implemented overnight to protect airspace in Polish regions near Ukrainian areas under Russian assault.
Officials stated that “necessary” forces and assets were mobilized, including fighter aircraft and an early warning plane, reports Daily Express UK.
Radar detection, surveillance systems and ground-based air defense units have also been positioned on “maximum readiness,” based on a translation of the social media post.
Poland’s military forces noted: “These actions are of a preventive nature and are aimed at securing the airspace and its protection, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened regions.”
According to reports, residential buildings in the city of Ternopil were hit. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that at least nine people lost their lives and dozens were injured when an apartment block in Ternopil was targeted.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it retaliated against Kyiv’s strikes on Russian territory by attacking Ukrainian energy facilities and military-industrial targets, including long-range drone depots.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense reported that two Eurofighter Typhoon jets and two F-16s were dispatched when a drone entered the NATO member’s airspace during the Russian attacks.
Tensions have heightened in Poland following the recent explosion of a railway line.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk identified the suspects as two Ukrainians believed to be working for Russia on Tuesday.
Mr. Tusk labeled the explosion on a line connecting Poland’s capital, Warsaw, to the border with Ukraine as an “unprecedented act of sabotage.”
In another incident confirmed as sabotage by Polish officials, power lines over another section of the same rail line further south were also damaged.
In response to Polish claims that two Ukrainian nationals working for Russia sabotaged a railway line, Dmitry Peskov, Russia’s presidential spokesperson, quipped that it would be “strange if Russia wasn’t blamed first.”