{"id":223589,"date":"2025-06-29T09:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T09:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223589\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T09:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T09:02:14","slug":"nato-scramble-warplanes-to-protect-countries-bordering-ukraine-after-putin-unleashes-537-missile-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223589\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO scramble warplanes to protect countries bordering Ukraine after Putin unleashes 537-missile attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

NATO<\/a> warplanes were scrambled overnight in a dramatic show of force as Vladimir Putin<\/a> launched a terrifying barrage of more than 500 missiles and drones across Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The alliance sprang into action amid fears the Russian blitz could spill into neighbouring countries, with Poland<\/a> confirming its fighter jets had been launched and its air defences placed on full alert.<\/p>\n

The massive aerial assault, involving Tu-95 strategic bombers, MiG fighter jets, hypersonic Kinzhal ‘Dagger’ missiles, Iranian-designed Shahed drones and Iskander ballistic missiles, devastated swathes of Ukraine and triggered a desperate response from Kyiv<\/a>‘s air force.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian officials said 475 of the 537 Russian aerial threats were shot down.<\/p>\n

Poland’s operational command confirmed that NATO fighter jets were launched in response to the sheer scale of the Russian onslaught.<\/p>\n

‘Due to the attack by the Russian Federation carrying out strikes on objects located in the territory of Ukraine, Polish and allied aviation has begun operating in our airspace,’ said a statement.<\/p>\n

‘The Operational Commander of the [armed forces] has activated all available forces and resources at his disposal.<\/p>\n

\"Explosions <\/p>\n

Explosions in Kremenchuk as missiles and drones strike city<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The massive aerial assault involved Tu-95 strategic bombers, MiG fighter jets, hypersonic Kinzhal ‘Dagger’ missiles, Iranian-designed Shahed drones and Iskander ballistic missiles<\/p>\n

\"Poland's <\/p>\n

Poland’s operational command confirmed that NATO fighter jets were launched in response to the sheer scale of the Russian onslaught<\/p>\n

‘The on-duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and the ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness.<\/p>\n

‘The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.’<\/p>\n

One ‘hero’ pilot was confirmed to have been killed in the crossfire.<\/p>\n

Lt-Col Maksym Ustimenko, 32, was hailed a national hero after he single-handedly downed seven air targets before his aircraft was fatally struck.<\/p>\n

‘The pilot used the entire complex of on-board weapons, and shot down seven air targets,’ said the Ukrainian air force.<\/p>\n

‘During the last exercise, his plane was damaged and began to lose altitude.<\/p>\n

‘Maksym Ustimenko did everything possible, took the plane away from a settlement, but did not have time to eject…<\/p>\n

‘He died like a hero.’<\/p>\n

The fallen pilot had been flying an American-made F-16.<\/p>\n

The full-scale aerial assault, targeting cities from east to west, was described as one of the most powerful waves of airstrikes since Russia launched its invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The full-scale aerial assault, targeting cities from east to west, was described as one of the most powerful waves of airstrikes since Russia launched its invasion in 2022<\/p>\n

\"Firefighters <\/p>\n

Firefighters work at the site of an apartment building damaged during Russian drone and missile strikes<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A resident holds her dog at the site of an apartment building damaged during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine<\/p>\n

In Kremenchuk, apocalyptic scenes emerged after a former oil refinery was hit by a barrage of cruise missiles, hypersonic Kinzhal rockets, and suicide drones.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a major industrial facility in Zaporizhzhia was set ablaze by a direct missile strike.<\/p>\n

‘A production facility of one of the enterprises was damaged,’ confirmed Ivan Fedorov, head of the regional military administration.<\/p>\n

Mykolaiv and parts of the Donetsk region also suffered hits as the Kremlin’s forces continued to pound infrastructure sites across the country.<\/p>\n

In the western city of Lviv, perilously close to NATO’s eastern flank, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said Russian forces targeted critical infrastructure. But, no civilian homes or lives were lost.<\/p>\n

In total 477 Shahed drones, four Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, seven Iskander-M\/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 41 Kh-101\/Iskander-K cruise missiles were launched in a single night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NATO warplanes were scrambled overnight in a dramatic show of force as Vladimir Putin launched a terrifying barrage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,2821,12,770,332,657,333,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-223589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-nato","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-poland","12":"tag-russia","13":"tag-ukraine","14":"tag-vladimir-putin","15":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114765846917462148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}