Nato scrambles fighter jets to Ukraine after one of the most intense attacks of the entire war

Poland scrambled fighter jets early today as Russia subjected Kyiv to one of the most intense attacks of the entire war.

At least three were killed and 15 wounded as Vladimir Putin’s forces plunged the Ukrainian capital into darkness and cut water supplies.

The missiles and drones struck key electricity infrastructure and residential buildings.

Russia’s use of Tu-95MS strategic bomber aircraft led to allied warplanes patrolling regions close to the Ukrainian border.

‘In connection with the attack by the Russian Federation, which is carrying out strikes on facilities located on the territory of Ukraine, military aviation is operating in Polish airspace,’ said a statement from Warsaw’s operational headquarters.

‘The Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces has activated the necessary forces and resources at his disposal.

‘Fighter jets have been scrambled, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached readiness.

‘These actions are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, especially in the areas adjacent to the threatened regions.’

The ruthless and ongoing Russian attacks on Kyiv today inflicting wanton harm to civilians came hours after Ukraine had used drones to explode two of Putin’s shadow oil fleet tankers in the open Black Sea, engulfing both in flames.

A giant fire also engulfed a major Russian drone battery production plant at Alabuga, in Russia’s Tatarstan region.

They also came as top Ukrainian officials are flying to Miami to speak to Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, and the presidents son in law Jared Kushner, before they fly for a peace plan meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin early next week.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s emissaries do not include the former head of his office Andriy Yermak, who was forced to quit over a gathering corruption scandal linked to kickbacks over atomic energy.

The ex-official issued a bitter statement loaded with recriminations as he vowed to go to the frontline — signalling deep tension at the top of Ukraine amid pressure to agree an unfriendly peace deal ceding territory to Putin, or face major losses as the war continues.

‘I’m going to the front and am prepared for any reprisals,’ Yermak told the New York Post.

He declared he was ‘an honest and decent person’ who had been ‘desecrated’.

‘My dignity hasn’t been protected, despite having been in Kyiv since February 24, 2022.’

Full of fury, Yermak – whose home was earlier searched by anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors – said of his resignation: ‘I don’t want to create problems for Zelensky. I’m going to the front….

‘I’m disgusted by the filth directed at me, and even more disgusted by the lack of support from those who know the truth.’

The carnage in Kyiv left the city’s entire west bank without power, and disrupted water supplies.

Women and children were among the wounded as Russia – yet again – hit multiple residential buildings evidently in a calculated bid to terrorise Ukrainians so they weaken their resolve and surrender to Putin’s demands.

Bodies were pulled from the rubble of the appalling strikes.

A postal warehouse was ablaze.

In other Ukrainian strikes, an attack on Saki airport in Russian-occupied Crimea destroyed warehouses crammed with Orion drones.

Drones also hit and exploded the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region, key for supplying fuel to troops in the war zone.

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