NATO fighters scrambled as Russia launches lethal ‘intense bombardment’ on Ukraine

NATO fighter jets and an early warning aircraft were deployed across eastern Europe in the early hours today as Russia launched one of its most ferocious assaults on Ukraine.

The timing of this devastating attack emerged as reports surfaced of fresh discussions between the US and Moscow, as well as separate talks with Ukraine, aimed at securing a peace agreement.

Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles and drones throughout Ukraine, leaving at least 46 people injured in the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, including youngsters aged nine and 13. In Ternopil, numerous missile and drone strikes targeted a residential tower block amongst other locations, marking yet another assault on innocent civilians as they slept – a hallmark of Vladimir Putin’s warfare tactics.

Reports indicated at least two fatalities amongst the casualties from the bombardment. Thick smoke blanketed the city. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says nine people have been confirmed dead with dozens injured, and people are possibly trapped under rubble in Ternopil.

Poland’s armed forces operational commander issued a statement: “Due to the Russian Federation’s attack on targets located in Ukrainian territory, Polish and allied air forces are operating in our airspace…..

“Duty fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft have been scrambled, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest level of alert.

“These actions are preventative in nature and aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in areas adjacent to the threatened areas.”

A NATO E-3A aircraft – equipped with an Airborne Warning and Control System – was patrolling over Poland, clearly monitoring this morning’s waves of Russian drones and missile systems crossing Ukrainian airspace. The recent Russian attacks were in response to Ukraine’s first-time launch of four US-supplied ATACMS ballistic missiles at a target in Voronezh.

While Moscow insists that all the missiles were intercepted, there are sceptics who question the veracity of these claims.

Given the past use of these missiles in operations such as Iraqi Freedom to obliterate enemy command centres, it is suspected that a similar target was in the crosshairs this time around.

These destructive strikes coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in Ankara for anticipated discussions with Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

This comes on the heels of rumours about covert peace talks between Russia and the US, involving Witkoff and Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami.

According to Axios, these discussions culminated in a 28-point plan addressing peace in Ukraine, security assurances, European security, and future relations between the US, Russia, and Ukraine.

In a separate move, Trump dispatched a military delegation to Kyiv for negotiations, led by Army Secretary Dan Driscol, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Randy George, and the commander of U.S. forces in Europe, Chris Donahue.

Ukrainian sources have labelled the attack on a high-rise residential building in Ternopil as a “deliberate war crime”, resulting in casualties and fatalities.

Mayor Serhiy Nadal reported that a frantic rescue operation was underway after a residential building was reduced to rubble.

“There is no military sense in hitting residential areas in this city. It is obvious that this was done deliberately to kill as many sleeping people as possible,” one Telegram outlet reported.

Power and heating disruptions were experienced as temperatures plummeted below freezing.

“The only thing Russians know how to do “well” is bomb, explode, and kill,” the Telegram channel Nevzerov reported.

The Burshtyn Thermal Power Plant in the Ivano-Frankivsk region was targeted, resulting in two children being injured.

In a series of early morning strikes, Russia targeted 16 apartment buildings, vehicles, shops, and civilian enterprises in Kharkiv with a swarm of Shahed drones.

Missile and drone attacks on Lviv resulted in explosions and fires, including a warehouse engulfed in flames. Power cuts were reported in the city following an attack on a power plant.

Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets stated: “Russia has once again shown that its goal is destruction and death. Overnight the aggressor country struck Ukraine again.

“Kharkiv – 46 injured, including two children. Fires, destroyed houses, completely burned-out entrances. Lviv and Ternopil are also under attack.

“In Ternopil, an entire residential building lost its upper floors – where people were peacefully sleeping at that moment. The aggressor is not stopped by statements, appeals, or formal condemnations. Only concrete actions can stop it.”

Ukrainian strikes have hit the Ilsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, and airports – including Gelendzhik – near Putin’s largest palace, have been shut down.

In the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, over half a million people were left without electricity, resulting in a state of emergency being declared following Ukrainian attacks.