NATO jets were scrambled early Wednesday as Russia launched a record attack on Ukraine overnight — just hours after President Trump ripped Russian President Vladimir Putin for his “bulls–t.”
Moscow fired 728 Shahed and decoy drones along with 13 cruise and ballistic missiles, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday.
That was more than 200 above the previous record fired on Friday, July Fourth — itself just a week after the previous largest air assault.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces took aim at enemy air bases and that “all the designated targets have been hit.”
However, Ukraine claimed it downed almost all of the drones, with only some of the hypersonic missiles getting through and hitting targets, the air force said, without detailing the damage caused.
The city of Lutsk, home to key military airfields, was the hardest hit, though 10 other regions were also struck, Ukraine said.
At least one strike was around 100 miles from Ukraine’s border with Poland, which launched military jets along with “allied aviation” from other NATO nations.
“In accordance with applicable procedures, all available forces and resources at the disposal of the Operational Commander of the Polish Armed Forces have been activated, duty fighter pairs have been scrambled, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s military wrote on X.
“The measures taken are aimed at ensuring security in areas bordering the threatened regions.”
The major escalation came a day after Trump ripped Putin while threatening tougher new sanctions on Russia, including 500% tariffs on countries that buy its oil, gas, uranium and other exports.
“We get a lot of bulls–t thrown at us by Putin,” said Trump, who also pledged more weapons to support Ukraine. “He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” the president told a cabinet meeting.
The overnight onslaught also came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet US envoy Keith Kellogg in Rome on Wednesday.
Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post’s signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here!
Zelensky called the airstrikes “a demonstrative attack … at a time when there have been so many attempts to achieve peace and cease-fire, but Russia rejects everything.”
“Our partners know how to apply pressure so that Russia will be forced to think about ending the war, not new strikes,” he said, calling for “biting sanctions” on Putin’s regime.
“Everyone who wants peace must act.”
Europe is also separately working on a new sanctions package against Moscow.
