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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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NATO member Poland has deployed fighter jets in response to Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The Polish armed forces posted on X that the aircraft had been deployed following "another massive attack" by Russia on Ukraine. It added that "ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance have reached a state of maximum readiness."
Poland said the deployments were preventative in nature, and "aimed at securing the airspace and its protection, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened zones."
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In a follow up post three hours later, the Polish armed forces said that the deployment of its aircraft had ended, and that ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance systems had returned to standard operational activities.
Polish airspace had not been breached by the Russia attacks, the post added without mentioning any locations in the latest measure taken by the NATO member following Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian authorities said Thursday that Russia launched a combined missile and drone attack across Ukraine, targeting the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kryvyi Rih, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky posted on social media that Russia had launched 427 drones and 39 missiles targeting sites which included gas infrastructure in the Poltava region as well as electrical substations in Kyiv and Dnipro regions.
Most were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, but Zelensky added, “the cold has not completely receded, and air defense missiles are needed every day while Russia tries to destroy our energy sector.”
At least 26 people were injured in the overnight strikes which follow peace talks last week between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Geneva, Switzerland.
Poland has regularly scrambled its fighter jets in response to Russian attacks on Ukraine, mainly when Moscow’s missiles and drones have attacked western Ukraine bordering the NATO member. Moscow’s aggression has set NATO on edge over the prospect of Russian aggression spilling over into the alliance’s territory.
On Wednesday, fellow NATO member Romania scrambled two F-16 aircraft after detecting a drone near its airspace in the Danube region in the north of Tulcea County.
“The unmanned aerial vehicle briefly entered the national airspace, in the area of Sfântu Gheorghe, without endangering people's lives, and exited north of Sulina, flying only over the territorial waters,” the Romanian military statement said.
It comes as U.S. and Ukrainian officials will hold further talks in Geneva on Thursday, according to Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
However, there has been little progress on a peace deal given Moscow’s demands that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region as it continues to attack Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov cast doubt on any diplomatic breakthrough, saying on Wednesday that a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S. should take place only at the final stage of negotiations.
Update 02/26/26, 03:53 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further information.
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