Five people have been killed after Russian drone and missile bombardment battered Lviv in an attack that has forced Poland to scramble fighter jets to protect its airspace.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 50 missiles and around 500 attack drones overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning.
At least five people lost their lives in the strikes and around 10 people were left injured, the president added. The regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Kirovohrad all targeted.
‘The Russians once again targeted our infrastructure – everything that ensures normal life for our people,’ he said.
‘We need more protection and faster implementation of all defence agreements, especially on air defence, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning.
‘A unilateral ceasefire in the skies is possible – and it is precisely that which could open the way to real diplomacy. America and Europe must act to make Putin stop.’
Following the attack, Poland’s armed forced were forced to scramble jets in order to protect its airspace, Polish military confirmed. Allied NATO aircraft were also deployed.
‘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.
A Russian strike in Chernihiv region, Ukraine, on the night of 04 October, 2025
According to the State Emergency Service report, at least five people died and dozens were injured after Russia launched an overnight attack on Ukraine with more than 50 missiles of different types and 500 shock drones
Firefighters extinguish a van on fire in a backyard of a residential house damaged during morning Russian drone and missile strikes
Smoke rises from the site of a Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine October 5, 2025
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’.
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.
Fire and smoke are seen after a residential building was damaged during a Russia’s air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, October 5, 2025
Ukrainian rescuers evacuate an injured young resident following an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Lviv region
Smoke billows over the city after a Russian drone and missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine October 5, 2025
Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine
Burned cars and damaged residential building are seen after a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Rescuers remove debris of a residential building heavily damaged during morning Russian drone and missile strikes
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.
