defences

Warsaw says ground-based air defence, radar reconnaissance systems also brought to the ‘highest state of readiness’.

Polish and allied air defences have been deployed to secure the country’s airspace, its military said, as Russia launched new deadly air strikes on neighbouring Ukraine.

The latest deployment on Sunday comes as the transatlantic security bloc NATO steps up its air patrols across the region in response to suspected Russian airspace incursions and drone sightings in several member states.

“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 early on Sunday.

“These actions are preventive in nature and are aimed at securing the airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened region,” the statement added.

The Polish military said it is monitoring the current situation, stating that its forces under its command “remain fully prepared for immediate response”.

Poland shares an estimated 530km (329 miles) with Ukraine.

As of 02:10 GMT, all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.

In a statement posted on Telegram, Ivan Fedorov, head of the southeastern Zapoprizhia region, said that a Russian “combined strike” killed a woman and wounded six other people, including a 16-year-old girl.

In late September, Poland was forced to briefly close part of its airspace southeast of the capital, Warsaw, after Russia launched a major attack across Ukraine.

Earlier that month, Polish and NATO forces also intercepted Russian drones which entered Poland’s airspace, marking their first direct military engagement with Moscow since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

On Sunday, NATO member Lithuania reopened its main airport after shutting it for hours following sightings of a “series of balloons” in its airspace.

Airports in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Poland have also recently suspended flights due to unidentified drones, while Romania and Estonia have pointed the finger at Russia, which has dismissed the allegations.

BRITAIN must ramp up missile defences – like Israel’s Iron Dome – or risk its nuclear bases being obliterated in the first hours of a war with Russia.

Moscow would target RAF jets and Royal Navy nuclear submarines if it launched a surprise attack, a report by the Rusi think tank has warned.

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A pre-emptive strike could “cripple” Britain’s nuclear deterrent and conventional military power – as most of the UK’s best weapons are “concentrated on just a few sites”.

The report warned a single Russian Yasen-class submarine could launch 40 cruise missiles from the Norwegian Sea with “relatively low warning”.

Yet the UK lacks both the radars to detect them “skimming over the sea” – or the weapons to shoot them down.

The report’s author Sidharth Kaushal said the immediate threat comes from sub-sonic Russian cruise missiles which can be launched from planes and submarines.

By 2035 the main risk will come from intermediate range ballistic missiles, like the Oreshnik blasted at Ukraine last year.

By 2040 the UK will need to defend against “hypersonic glide vehicles” which can travel at 20 times the speed of sound.

He also warned short range drones could be smuggled close to targets and launched from sea containers – like Ukraine’s Operation Spiders Web – or launched by Spetznaz special forces.

Kaushal said calls for a British Iron Dome were warranted by Russia’s focus on “long-range conventional precision strike” weapons.

He said: “The initial priority is the expansion of its capacity for the defence of critical military installations against what is primarily a cruise missile threat.”

The report urged Keir Starmer to buy space based sensors and long range radars that can see 3000km away, the equivalent of Lands End to Moscow.

He said “long-range precision strikes” was central to Kremlin military doctrine.

He said: “The destruction of aircraft on the ground is particularly salient. The destruction of nuclear attack submarines that carry submarine-launched cruise missiles is also described as a priority.”

Russian targets would likely the Royal Navy Bases at Devonport and Clyde and RAF Marham in Norfolk, where the nuclear capable fleet of F-35 stealth jets is based.

It comes after RAF war games showed Britain would be overwhelmed if it faced a Russian missile attack like the first night of the war in Ukraine.

Air Commodore Blythe Crawford said: “It was not a pretty picture.”

The drills suggested bases would be blown to smithereens and £100 million fighter jets could get blitzed before they could hide.

Air Cdre Crawford, who was head the RAF’s Air and Space Warfare Centre at the time, said it showed the UK “home base” was no longer safe.

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The drills used a £36 million wargaming system to test the UK’s responses to “hundreds of different types of munitions” attacking from multiple different directions.

It exposed multiple vulnerabilities including a chronic shortage of airfields and a lack of hardened shelters for protect and hide jets on the ground.

The government sold off scores of airfields and watered-down the RAF’s powers to commandeer civilian runways.

The Armed Forces rely on RAF Typhoons, which scramble from RAF Lossiemouth, to shoot down incoming drones and cruise missiles.

The only British missiles that could intercept Russian ballistic missiles are based onboard the Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyers.

Air Cdr Crawford warned Britain had got lax by standing at the edge of Europe and “feeling as though the rest of the continent stood between us and the enemy”.

He said: “Ukraine has made us all sit up.” The government announced last week it was buying six more launchers to for its Sky Sabre air defence systems.

The weapons, used by the Royal Artillery, can shoot down targets the size of a tennis ball at two times the speed of sound.

ALMOST 150 miners were trapped underground in eastern Ukraine after Russia bombed a coal facility, killing one worker.

The terrifying ordeal comes as details about the security guarantees Trump is prepared to offer Ukraine begin to emerge – namely big guns and intel, according to officials.

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One miner was killed and three injured by the shelling on the coal mine – while 146 were left stuck inside the dark labyrinth.

The mine belongs to DETK, Ukraine’s largest energy company.

A spokesperson for them said: “The attack damaged the company’s buildings and equipment and caused a power outage.

“At the time, 146 miners were underground, and efforts to bring them to the surface are ongoing.”

The precise location of the trapped miners was not revealed by the firm, but a union leader reported they were stuck in the Dobropillia community in Donetsk.

It was reported later in the day that all the miners had been rescued and brought back to the surface.

Donetsk, one half of the Donbas region, has mostly been overrun by Russia – but its famous “fortress belt” is still clinging on.

Donbas is Ukraine’s industrial powerhouse and holds rich reserves of coal and metal underground.

Russia has demanded Ukraine hands over the remaining land in exchange for peace – a proposal Zelensky screwed up and threw out.

Meanwhile, details have finally emerged about the security guarantees the US could give to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.

Trump first confirmed the US would be involved in Ukraine‘s long-term safety during the White House summit with European leaders – but did not specify what they would look like.

We learned they would definitely not include American boots on the ground – though Trump suggested other willing nations would send manpower.

Now, the US has said it is willing to provide intelligence and battlefield leadership to Ukraine‘s army as part of a deal, reports the Financial Times citing four briefed officials.

Senior US officials have reportedly told European leaders in discussions since the summit that Washington would offer “strategic enablers” to the brave defenders.

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These would include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control, and air defence weapons.

The objective of these helping hands would be to deter any future Russian attacks.

Members of the Coalition of the Willing – including the UK and France – are expected to take more active roles in Ukraine’s defence.

It’s not clear which countries, if any, would commit to sending troops to the frontline.

Nations have admitted that any deployment of boots would only happen under robust US support.

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This package of military aid offered by the US is dependent on European countries committing to sending tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine.

It could be retracted if that requirement is not fulfilled, the officials warned.

Nonetheless, the promises now firmed up with details mark a major shift in America’s attitude towards the future protection of Ukraine.

Just earlier this year, Trump had ruled out the States having any part in it.

First, however, a peace deal must be reached.

Trump and European leaders have pushed hard for a head-to-head meeting between Zelensky and Putin, but the Kremlin has once again stalled.

Concern is rising that the Alaska summit will turn out to have been fruitless.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, even warned that the red-carpet event even gave Putin “everything he wanted” without demanding a single concession from him.

US and Ukrainian leaders discuss defence capabilities on call after Trump ‘disappointed’ by conversation with Russia’s Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he agreed with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries.

The two leaders had a “very important and fruitful conversation” by phone on Friday, Zelenskyy said.

“We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,” he added in a post on the social media platform X.

The president added that he discussed joint defence production, as well as joint purchases and investments, with the US leader.

Meanwhile, US publication Axios, citing an unidentified Ukrainian official and a source with knowledge of the call, said Trump told Zelenskyy he wants to help Ukraine with air defence after escalating attacks from Russia.

This comes a day after the US president spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a conversation he said was disappointing.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said after the call on Thursday. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

Trump said the call with Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war, and the Kremlin reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes”.

Massive drone attack

Hours after the Trump-Putin call on Thursday, Russia pummelled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, killing one person, injuring at least 23 and damaging buildings across the capital.

Air raid sirens, the whine of kamikaze drones and booming detonations reverberated from early evening until dawn as Russia launched what Ukraine’s Air Force said was a total of 539 drones and 11 missiles.

Zelenskyy called the attack “deliberately massive and cynical”.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.

A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s air strikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems to bridge the gap.

Trump spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, according to Spiegel magazine, citing government sources. The two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine, including strengthening its air defence, as well as trade issues, Spiegel reported on Friday.

In Zelenskyy’s post on X on Friday after his call with Trump, he said the two had “a detailed conversation about defense industry capabilities and joint production. We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukrainians are “grateful for all the support provided”, as it helps protect lives and safeguard their independence.

“We support all efforts to stop the killings and restore just, lasting, and dignified peace. A noble agreement for peace is needed,” he said.

Ukraine’s Security Service said it deployed special drones to attack the Russian Kirovske military airfield in Crimea.

Ukraine said it carried out an overnight drone strike on the Kirovske airfield in Crimea and claimed that multiple Russian helicopters and an air defence system were destroyed in the strike.

According to a Ukraine Security Service (SBU) statement, the drones targeted areas where Russian aviation units, air defence assets, ammunition depots and unmanned aerial vehicles were located. The agency claimed that Mi-8, Mi-26, and Mi-28 helicopters, as well as a Pantsir-S1 missile and gun system were destroyed.

“Secondary detonations continued throughout the night at the airfield,” the SBU said, calling the strike part of broader efforts to disrupt Russian aerial operations. “The enemy must understand that expensive military equipment and ammunition are not safe anywhere – not on the line of contact, not in Crimea, and not deep in the rear.”

The Russian defence ministry said more than 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight and Saturday morning over Crimea.

At the same time, Ukrainian officials said two people were killed and 14 others were wounded during a Russian drone strike on the port city of Odesa.

Odesa Governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram that those who were killed were due to a drone strike on a “residential building”. Among the 14 injured, “three of them children”, Kiper added.

The governor of the southern Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said that one person was killed and three others were wounded in Russian strikes during the past day.

“Russian troops targeted critical and social infrastructure and residential areas in the region,” Prokudin added.

Territorial gains

Amid the latest attacks, Russia’s defence ministry said it had taken control of the settlement of Chervona Zirka in the eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow has claimed is part of Russia since an illegal election in late 2022.

After direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkiye this month to end the war, which began in 2022, both sides were unable to come to a mutual understanding.

Moscow has said any territory taken during the war must be retained. Kyiv has staunchly rejected any peace proposal that calls for it to give up land to Russia.

On Friday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that the two countries’ demands were “absolutely contradictory”.

“That’s why negotiations are being organised and conducted, in order to find a path to bringing them closer together,” Putin said at a press conference in Minsk, Belarus. He added that the two sides would “continue further contact” after prisoner exchanges agreed at the Istanbul talks had been completed.

Russia and Ukraine have conducted several prisoner-of-war swaps since agreeing to free more than 1,000 captured soldiers.

Many Israelis are in shock after the country’s air defence system failed to intercept Iranian missiles, shattering their sense of security. But Palestinian citizens of Israel say they never felt safe to begin with.