NATO scrambles fighter jets after long-range Russian aerial attacks

 NATO member Poland scrambled fighter jets overnight as Russia launched strikes on Ukraine, Warsaw’s military said on Tuesday.

Poland also put ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems on “the highest state of readiness” to protect NATO territory bordering Ukraine, Poland said.

Why It Matters

Russia’s aerial bombardment, particularly on sites close to NATO territory in western Ukraine, have frequently pushed the alliance to protect its airspace with fighter jets. Member nations are collectively obliged to respond to attacks on other alliance nations under Article 5 of the founding treaty.

Moscow’s drones and missiles entering NATO airspace have not been treated as attacks on the alliance so far, although roughly 20 drones crossed into Poland in September in what Prime Minister Donald Tusk said was a deliberate incident. Russia denied intentionally targeting the country.

Drones have also occasionally crossed into NATO member Romania’s airspace.

What To Know

On Tuesday, Poland’s military said its actions were “of a preventive nature” to secure the country’s airspace, “especially in areas adjacent to the threatened zones.”

A spokesperson for the German military told Newsweek German aircraft were not scrambled overnight. Germany has sent a detachment of five fighter jets to northern Poland for a rotation of NATO air policing.

Ukrainian officials reported that aerial attacks in several regions had killed at least three people, including in Kyiv.

One person was killed and three were injured in the capital, Ukraine’s state emergency service said. The injured were in the west of the city, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Vitaliy Bunechko, the governor of the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv, said a child had been killed in the strikes, while another four people were injured. Serhiy Tyurin, who leads the western Khmelnytskyi region, said one person had died overnight.

“Since last night, Russia has been carrying out a massive attack on Ukraine—primarily targeting our energy sector and civilian infrastructure, essentially the entire infrastructure of daily life,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Tuesday.

The Ukrainian leader said Russia had launched more than 650 drones and 30 missiles.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said Russia had targeted the country’s energy infrastructure and that power outages were affecting several regions. A similar message was shared by Ukraine’s state electricity transmission system operator, Ukrenergo.

Oleh Kiper, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, said Russia had “carried out another massive attack with strike UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles].”

The attacks damaged the region’s energy, port, transport and industrial infrastructure, as well as residential areas, Kiper said.

Romania’s Defense Ministry said it had detected two unspecified aerial targets in Ukrainian airspace moving toward its border.

Radars also picked up a different group of drones heading for Romania following a series of explosions on Ukrainian territory, Bucharest said.

Authorities issued alerts for those living in the north of the Tulcea county area bordering Ukraine and the southeastern Galati county. The warnings were rescinded at 2:15 a.m. local time.

What People Are Saying

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday: “This Russian strike sends an extremely clear signal about Russia’s priorities. An attack ahead of Christmas, when people simply want to be with their families, at home, and safe.”

Update 12/23/2025 at 4:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Update 12/23/2025 at 6:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a comment from the German military.