KYIV (Reuters) – Russia launched 57 missiles and drones against Ukraine on Sunday, targeting the capital Kyiv and the western Lviv region, Ukrainian officials said, while Poland denounced a brief violation by one of Russian missiles of its airspace.
Ukrainian forces destroyed 19 of 29 missiles and 25 of 28 drones launched by Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram.
Several explosions rang out early Sunday in Kyiv.
Ukrainian air defense units destroyed around ten missiles launched from Russia towards the capital and its surroundings, Serhi Popko, head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, said on Telegram.
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No casualties or significant damage were immediately reported, he said.
“For the third time this week, shortly before dawn, an air alert was issued in Ukraine and (the population) was called to take shelter,” Bridget Brink, ambassador of the United States, said early Sunday. in Ukraine, on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
“Russia continues to launch drones and missiles indiscriminately and without taking into account millions of civilians, thereby violating international law,” she added.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
POLISH AIRSPACE
In the Lviv region, critical infrastructure was hit twice by Russian strikes, said the region’s governor, Maxim Kozitsky.
“There were two preliminary strikes on the same critical infrastructure that the occupiers targeted overnight,” he said on Telegram.
Lviv Mayor Andri Sadovy said on Telegram that no attacks had targeted the city, but that some 20 missiles and seven drones had been launched against the Lviv region, targeting “critical infrastructure”.
One of the missiles fired by Russia towards the Lviv region violated Polish airspace, the Polish armed forces said.
“On March 24 at 4:23 a.m. (03:23 GMT), Polish airspace was violated by one of the cruise missiles launched during the night by the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,” they said on x.
“The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and remained there for 39 seconds,” the armed forces added. “During the entire flight, he was observed by military radar systems.”
The Polish Foreign Ministry said it would seek explanations from Russia for the airspace violation.
Poland calls on Russia “to stop terrorist air attacks against the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine, end the war and resolve the country’s internal problems,” the ministry’s spokesperson said in a statement.
(Reporting Pavel Polityuk, Gleb Garanich and Valentyn Ogirenko, with Anna Koper and Alan Charlish in Warsaw, written by Lidia Kelly; French version Camille Raynaud and Blandine Hénault)
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