LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -NATO member Poland said it scrambled aircraft early on Sunday to ensure its air safety after Russia launched airstrikes on Ukraine, with Ukrainian officials reporting missiles and drones raining down on the Lviv region near the Polish border.
“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said in a post on X.
Eastern-flank NATO members are on high alert after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace in September and drone sightings and air incursions, including in Copenhagen and Munich, have led to chaos in European aviation.
Lithuania’s airport in Vilnius was closed for several hours overnight after reports of a possible series of balloons heading towards the airport late on Saturday.
According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, early on Sunday, commercial flights were using routings typically used when Poland’s Lublin and Rzeszow airports near the border with Ukraine were closed.
Reuters could not independently verify the Flightradar24 report.
There were no immediate notices on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s website about possible flight disruptions in Rzeszow and Lublin. But Eurocontrol, which oversees European air traffic control, warned of high delays in airspace managed by Poland due to the “Ukraine situation”.
ALL OF UKRAINE UNDER THREAT OF ATTACK
At 0300 GMT, Ukraine’s Air Force said all of the country was under the threat of fresh Russian missile attacks, following hours of air raid alerts and warnings of drone and missile attacks.
Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv – a western Ukrainian city about 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland, said missiles were approaching the city after air defence systems were already engaged heavily in repelling a Russian drone attack.
Reuters witnesses said the pounding of what sounded like air defence systems in operation came from all directions.
There were no immediate reports of potential damage and there was no comment from Russia.
Both sides have been launching air attacks throughout the war aimed at destroying infrastructure deemed crucial to the overall war efforts, including energy and transport facilities.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Andriy Perun in Lviv; Editing by Jamie Freed)
