Five individuals have lost their lives following a Russian drone and missile assault on Lviv, which has led Poland to deploy fighter jets for airspace protection.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia launched over 50 missiles and approximately 500 attack drones from Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The attacks resulted in at least five fatalities and around ten injuries, the president stated. The regions affected encompass Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Kirovohrad.

‘The Russians once again targeted our infrastructure – everything that ensures normal life for our people,’ he said. 

‘We urgently require more protection and quicker execution of all defense agreements, particularly concerning air defense, to render this aerial terror ineffective.

‘An airspace ceasefire is feasible, and it is this step that could pave the way for genuine diplomacy. America and Europe must intervene to compel Putin to halt.’

In response to the assault, Poland’s military had to deploy jets to safeguard its airspace, confirmed by Polish military officials. Additional NATO aircraft were also mobilized.

‘Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,’ Poland’s operational command said in a post on X. 

During the brutal attack, Russia again targeted Ukraine’s power plants – and one was struck in an overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia, where the mayor said one person died and more than 73,000 people were without electricity. 

Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi said part of the city also had no power, adding that city’s air defence systems were engaged heavily in repelling first a drone and then a Russian missile attack. 

As of 07:30am (04:30am GMT), parts of the city were left without power and public transport was yet to start running, with Sadovyi stressing on Telegram that it was ‘dangerous to go out into the streets’. 

Ukrainian officials clarified that a family of four was killed in Lapaivka, Lviv region, including a 15 year old girl. 

A six year old boy was left in a serious condition with a ‘traumatic brain injury’, while a woman pensioner, 60, was also wounded.

Another person was killed in Russian strikes on Zaporizhzhia. And a boy, 13, was among eight injured when three Russian guided aerial bombs hit Sloviansk damaging a nine-story residential building and an arts school building.

Lithuania’s airport in Vilnius was also closed for several hours overnight after reports of a possible series of balloons heading towards the airport late on Saturday. 

The assaults came just days after a US official said the US would support Ukraine launching deep strikes inside Russian territory.

A week ago, Kyiv came under a massive overnight drone and missile attack in what appeared to be one of the biggest Russian strikes on Ukraine’s capital since the start of the war. Poland had again scrambled jets in response to the devastating attack.

The ‘massive’ aerial bombardment that lasted more than 12 hours killed at least four people including a 12-year-old girl and left dozens injured after almost 600 drones and 40 missiles hit the Ukrainian capital and surrounding regions.

Some 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles were launched just hours after Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov threatened a ‘decisive response’ to any action against unauthorised Russian raids into NATO airspace.

Of those, air defences shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.

Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the massive strike, declaring in a statement: ‘Last night, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine used in the interests of the armed forces of Ukraine, as well as the infrastructure of military airfields’.

Zelensky warned that Ukraine will retaliate and said the ‘vile’ attack showed Moscow ‘wants to continue fighting and killing’.

Ivan Fedorov, Zaporizhzhia’s Governor, said 31 people had been injured in the region, including three children – two boys, aged 11 and 12, and a nine-year-old girl.

Zelensky vowed that the war-torn country ‘will strike back’ in an attempt to ‘force diplomacy’ from Russia, and said he was counting on a ‘strong reaction’ from Europe and the US.

The strikes followed a spate of reckless Russian incursions into Polish and then Estonian airspace, prompting Britain to deploy RAF Typhoons over Poland as part of an allied response.

Defence Secretary John Healey said last week the RAF’s intervention sent ‘a clear signal: NATO airspace will be defended.’

He added: ‘I’m proud of the outstanding British pilots and air crew who took part in this successful operation to defend our allies from reckless Russian aggression.’ 

Codenamed Project Octobus, the UK and Ukraine will build new drones in British factories within weeks before deploying them to deter Russian aggression.