Poland scrambles jets as Russia strikes Kyiv before US-Ukraine peace talks

Polish fighter jets have been scrambled on its border with Ukraine, after the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was hit by Russian missiles and drones overnight.

Poland’s military said its air force took a “preventative” response to secure its airspace, after at least one person was killed and 28 others were injured in Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported.

As the fighting continues, so does the work to get a peace deal that all sides can agree to. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday.

But following the latest Russian strikes, Zelensky has repeated his claim that Russia does “not want to end the war and is trying to use every opportunity to inflict more pain on Ukraine”.

Writing on Telegram, Zelensky said that Russia directed almost 500 drones and 40 missiles towards Kyiv, targeting energy and civilian infrastructure.

Pictures show apartment buildings with gaping holes and homes on fire following the strikes.

Thousands of buildings have had their power cut, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, and many are without heating, as temperatures plummet to below freezing.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said that 68 people were evacuated from a retirement home in the eastern Darnytskyi district.

“Russian representatives are having long conversations, but in reality the Daggers [missiles] and Shaheds [drones] are speaking for them,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, saying that Vladimir Putin does not want to end the war.

“This sick activity can only be responded to with really strong steps. America has this opportunity, Europe has this opportunity, many of our partners have this opportunity,” he wrote, urging allies to show strength against Russian aggression.

The strikes saw Poland, which shares a 530km-long (320-miles) border with western Ukraine, ready its fighter jets, ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance.

The move was “aimed at securing and protecting the airspace, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened regions,” Poland’s Armed Forces said.

Later on Saturday morning, it concluded that there had been no violation of the country’s airspace.

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences destroyed seven Ukrainian drones overnight.

On Saturday, Zelensky, EU leaders and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are expected to hold a phone call to discuss the road to peace.

Zelensky’s new 20-point draft is a revised version of an earlier 28-point plan which was drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, but widely seen as being too favourable to Russia.

The Ukrainian president has voiced optimism around the new draft, describing it as “a foundational document on ending the war”, but Trump warned that Zelensky “doesn’t have anything until I approve it” in an interview with Politico.

The draft reportedly includes security guarantees from the US, Nato and European allies for a co-ordinated military response if Russia were to invade Ukraine again.

Control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas has been a sticking point in talks so far, but now Zelensky has said a “free economic zone” could be an option.

Trump told Politico that he was expecting to see the new draft on Sunday.

“I think it’s going to go good with him. I think it’s going to go good with [Vladimir] Putin,” Trump said in the interview, adding that he expects to speak with Russia’s president “soon”.