Polish and allied military aircraft were scrambled on alert today to ensure the security of Polish airspace after Russia carried out air strikes on its targets in western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, Reuters reported, citing the operational command of the Polish Armed Forces.
"Polish and allied aircraft are carrying out operations in our airspace, while ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems are on the highest level of alert", the operational command announced in a post on the "Ex" social platform.
At 3:30 a.m. Ukrainian time today (also Bulgarian, 2:30 a.m. Polish time), air raid sirens sounded across almost all of Ukraine due to Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.
The private Polish radio station RMFFM reported yesterday, quoted by Reuters, that an unidentified object, possibly a drone, had crashed near the village of Maidan-Selets in eastern Poland.
A Polish Defense Ministry spokesman said the object did not appear to be a military drone and that police would provide further details. According to initial reports, it was a drone used by smugglers.
Russian shelling of the town of Putyvel in Ukraine's Sumy region killed a woman and injured seven people, including a 9-year-old child, Ukrinform reported, citing local authorities.
"As a result of an enemy attack on the outskirts of Putyvel, there is one victim and injuries," he wrote on his channel in the application "Telegram" the chairman of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Oleg Grigorov. He said that among the injured was a 9-year-old child.
The wounded were hospitalized and doctors were providing them with the necessary care, Grigorov said, adding that the circumstances were being clarified.
The chairman of the Putyvel City Council, Konstantin Gavrilchuk, specified that as a result of the enemy attack on the territory of the city, a woman died and seven people were injured.
At least 15 people were injured in a Russian attack on the city of Zaporozhye yesterday, one of whom is in hospital, Agence France-Presse recalls, citing the head of the Zaporozhye regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov.
Ukrainian drones have struck the roof of a training center at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant complex in Ukraine, which is under Russian control, Reuters reported, citing a statement by the Russian management of the nuclear power plant from last night.
The Russian administration specified that minor damage was caused and that no increase in radiation levels was reported.
The strikes were carried out at a location about 300 meters from a nuclear reactor unit, the administration said in the "Telegram" application.
"This center is unique - it houses the only full-scale copy of a nuclear reactor hall in the world, which is of strategic importance for personnel training," the statement said.
The Zaporozhye NPP - the largest nuclear power plant in Europe - has 6 nuclear reactors. They are not working, but the plant still needs power supply because the nuclear fuel must be constantly cooled, Reuters points out.
The Ukrainian attack did not hinder the activities at the plant, the Russian-appointed administration specified.
"Operational safety standards were not violated and radiation levels are within normal limits", the management of the Zaporizhzhia NPP noted.
Reuters makes the reservation that the reliability of the information cannot be verified, and that there is currently no reaction from the Ukrainian side.
Moscow seized the Zaporizhzhia NPP in the first weeks of its offensive in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, Reuters recalls.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said tonight that almost 60 percent of the weapons used by the Ukrainian army, are produced in Ukraine, Reuters reported. The head of state added in his traditional evening address to the nation that this means exceeding the norm he set two months ago.
"During the war, Ukraine reached the point where almost 60 percent of the weapons we have, the weapons in the hands of our soldiers, are Ukrainian-made", Zelensky said in his video address.
"And these are powerful weapons, with a number of modernizations,", he explained.
Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have long touted the progress of Ukraine's own weapons production as a key factor in ensuring the country's future defense.
The Ukrainian president also highlighted a joint arms production project with Denmark in his address. In July, the head of state called on his new government to take steps to increase the production of more than 50 percent of weapons for the Ukrainian army in Ukraine.
He said then that Ukrainian-made weapons account for about 50 percent of the Ukrainian army's armament, which is the most since the country declared independence in 1991, after seceding from the Soviet Union.
Ukraine is focusing on the production of drones and air defense systems to deter massive Russian drone and missile attacks, Reuters reports. Technical improvements to interceptor drones were also emphasized as an effective and cost-effective way to counter Russian air attacks.