NATO Fighter Jets Scrambled During Long-Range Russian Missile Strikes

NATO fighter jets were scrambled after Russia launched long-range missile attacks on Ukraine overnight on Friday.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces told Newsweek that it was "observing long-range aviation activity of the Russian Federation" on Friday morning.

"The Russian activity was related to air and missile strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine," it said. "At least five MiG-31K and two Tu-95 MS strategic bombers were operating and launched rockets towards Ukrainian territories."

It added: "All necessary procedures to ensure the safety of Polish airspace were launched, and the Operational Command was constantly monitoring the situation."

The Operational Command said F-16 fighter jets took part in the operation, but did not confirm the number involved.

It later announced on X, formerly Twitter, that due to a "reduced level of threat" the operation was ended and the resources returned to standard operational activities.

Polish military aircraft were also scrambled last week following major Russian missile and drone strikes that caused power cuts for at least 200,000 people. Ukraine's energy ministry announced on Telegram last Thursday that Russia had attacked energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa regions.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces announced on Friday that Russia had fired 22 missiles and 14 attack drones at Ukraine overnight.

This included two Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from Russian Tu-95 MS fighter jets; 14 attack UAVs of the Shahed-131/136 types; 12 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air missiles; two Iskander-K cruise missiles; and six Kh-22 cruise missiles from Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers.

Kyiv said that a total of 29 Russian aerial targets were destroyed, including four cruise missiles, 14 strike UAVs and 11 guided air missiles.

It added that the Ukrainian military had downed a Russian long-range bomber used to fire cruise missiles for the first time since the start of the war.

"For the first time, anti-aircraft missile units of the air force in cooperation with the defense intelligence of Ukraine destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber," the General Command said.

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense Intelligence Department said that the aircraft was shot down 190 miles from Ukraine and crashed in Russia's southern Stavropol region.

Russia's state-run news agency Ria Novosti said that one crew member on board the plane had been killed in the crash, according to the local governor. It added that another two pilots had ejected from the aircraft and that there was no threat to their lives.

Meanwhile, a number of people were killed in air strikes across Ukraine on Friday morning.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a strike on the city of Dnipro destroyed several floors of a residential building, along with inflicting damage on the railway station. He added that the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Synelnykove, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, were also targeted.