The attack reverberated across Europe’s eastern flank.
Poland scrambled fighter jets and placed its air defense systems on heightened alert as a precautionary measure, citing Russian long-range aviation activity targeting Ukraine. Poland’s Operational Command said on X that military aviation operations were launched to protect Polish airspace, adding later that no violations had been detected and the alert was subsequently lifted.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the strikes by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces underscored the gap between diplomatic efforts and Moscow’s actions on the ground. “Contrary to President Trump’s expectations and despite the readiness to make compromises by Zelenskyy, Russia attacked again Kyiv’s residential districts,” Tusk wrote on X on Saturday.
Tusk added that he would speak later Saturday with leaders from Ukraine, Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and the European Union about “the chances for peace.”
The overnight air strikes came as Zelenskyy makes his way to North America, stopping in Canada on Saturday before traveling on to Florida for talks with Trump on Sunday. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney “plan to speak online with European leaders, go over all the issues, provide updates, and exchange the details of the documents I will be discussing with the U.S. president.”
Zelenskyy said the overnight attacks on Ukraine demonstrated why strong security guarantees are “our most important consideration” in discussing peace proposals. Territorial control of the Donbas region and management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are also important issues to be determined in the peace talks, he told journalists.
