Ukraine-Russia war latest: Nato jets scrambled in Poland and Romania as Putin hammers Kyiv

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Nato aircraft were deployed over Polish and Romanian airspace overnight and on Wednesday in response to the latest wave of Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.

Russia pounded Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles, with falling debris causing damage at a maternity hospital in the capital. At least seven people, including two in Kyiv and five in the eastern ‌Donetsk region, have been killed in the attacks.

Poland scrambled fighter jets “to ensure safety” due to Russian "strikes using jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles on targets in western Ukraine” but said no violations of its airspace were recorded. The alert ended after about an hour.

Romania also scrambled two F-16s after an aerial target was detected near the Ukrainian border.

It came as the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky urged world leaders to keep choking off Russia's revenues and impede its war efforts.

Zelensky told the UN General Assembly in New York that "Russia's revenues must remain a target".

He also spoke out against the use of AI in war, and warned: “The longer Putin can wage war, the more evil he will leave behind.”

US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Indian foreign minister ⁠S Jaishankar discussed on Wednesday US measures that could be leveled against countries that engage economically with Russia and Iran.

Last week, Trump signed the bill called "Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act ⁠of 2026," named after deceased South Carolina Republican ​US ⁠Senator Lindsey Graham.

Rubio and Jaishankar "discussed sanctions that could be leveled against states that engage ​economically with ⁠Russia and Iran," the State Department ‌said in a statement after their meeting in New York.

Jaishankar wrote on X he "reiterated India's interests and concerns with regard to SRIA."

India has previously told Washington that new ‌measures to levy tariffs over the purchase of Russian oil ‌could impact bilateral ties.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he had signed a “drone deal” with Finnish president Alexander Stubb, as Kyiv seeks to combine its technical expertise with the industrial capacity of other countries.

Zelensky met Mr Stubb and Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre in New York.

“And today we just signed a Drone Deal with Alex (Stubb) – an important step for jointly protecting our ⁠people and an even stronger partnership between our countries,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said the Trump administration had invited Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 meeting in Miami in December.

The Kremlin said Russia would consider the invitation.

Rubio spoke following his meeting Russian foreign minister Sergei ⁠Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

He ​said Washington remained ‌open to engaging ‌with Russia on the war in Ukraine, despite stalled efforts ‌to bring an end to the conflict.

“We’ve invited President Putin to the G20. We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president but with other world leaders. We hope that’s an invitation ‌he’ll accept,” Rubio said.

Nato aircraft were deployed over Polish and Romanian airspace overnight and on Wednesday morning as Russia launched another wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 161 drones, including 82 jet-powered drones, and an unspecified number of Banderol cruise missiles.

Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command said Polish fighter jets were scrambled “to ensure safety” amid Russian strikes using jet-powered drones against targets in western Ukraine.

The alert lasted about an hour, with Polish authorities saying no violation of Polish airspace was recorded.

Romania also scrambled two F-16 fighter jets after an aerial target was detected near the Ukrainian border.

Romania’s defence ministry said the aircraft responded to a target manoeuvring near Valkove, on Ukrainian territory, close to the Romanian border. The alert ended about an hour later, with authorities reporting no incursion into Romanian airspace.

Russian forces ​attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring six, as debris crashed down on several districts, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Klitschko, writing on the Telegram messaging app, ⁠said one of the dead had been in the parking lot of a maternity hospital. Three of the six injured were medical personnel and two of those hurt were in a serious condition. Part of the hospital facade was damaged, as was a nearby ⁠clinic.

Debris hit the ground in three districts ​of ⁠the capital and Klitschko said part of a residence had also been destroyed.

"In the Dniprovskyi district, debris fell into the yard ⁠of a private property," Klitschko wrote. "People may be trapped under rubble". He urged residents ​to ⁠remain in shelters.

Kyiv's military administration ‌said a 16-storey residential building was damaged, along with private homes.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried the new Russian missile attack and said the strikes were recurring because ‌of insufficient pressure on Moscow.

Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said ​on Wednesday he discussed ways of keeping tensions in check at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi.

Sybiha said on ⁠X the meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York was a follow-up to a telephone conversation the two held in July.

In ⁠more than 4-1/2 ​years ⁠of conflict with Russia, Ukraine has faced barrages of Iranian-designed drones. Kyiv has over that ⁠time developed technology to counter drone threats ​and offered ⁠its assistance to Middle ‌Eastern countries facing strikes by Tehran.

"Diplomacy is about direct conversation, even in challenging circumstances," Sybiha wrote.

"Our ‌conversation focused on mutual steps ‌to prevent further aggravation of tensions between our countries. We agreed to keep existing channels of communication open."

Sybiha said ⁠the two ministers exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and Europe "as well as various tracks of ongoing peace efforts".

"I reiterated Ukraine's position in support of a sooner restoration of peace and stability in both our regions.

"It comes as a Ukrainian ​drone strike on an Iranian ship killed one sailor ⁠and injured another in July. Iran denounced the attack and ⁠threatened retaliation.

Ukraine has sent two North Korean prisoners of war to South Korea, Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, following months of consultations between Kyiv and Seoul after the soldiers were captured in Russia's Kursk region in 2025.

"These guys are not easy to capture alive," he said. "One of them, when he realised he was going to be taken prisoner, tried to kill himself and he was shocked that fate didn't let him die. This is how they raise people in the North."

Following the soldiers' capture in Kursk in January 2025, South Korea urged Kyiv not to send them back to North Korea, where they could face persecution, and said it was willing to accept them if they wished to resettle in the South.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry did not directly confirm Zelenskyy's comments but said it had been consulting with Kyiv and other relevant parties to resolve the matter in a manner that respects the soldiers' free will and complies with international law and humanitarian principles.

The ministry said in a statement that it would not confirm details about the soldiers' "disposition, the timing or route of their transfer or specific contents of consultations" with Ukraine, calling it a sensitive matter concerning the safety of the soldiers and their families.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Moscow at the United Nations that Ukraine will strike back and make the coming winter deeply painful for Russia, if the two sides cannot agree a truce on energy attacks before the ⁠cold sets in.

Ukraine and its allies are racing to secure limited agreements on energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping before winter, fearing renewed Russian strikes on power and heating facilities.

"Ukrainians understand that this winter could be very harsh for us. But in response, we will have no choice but to make it painful for Russia too," Zelensky told the UN General ⁠Assembly.

Although Russia ​has ⁠a far bigger arsenal of missiles which it has used to pound its enemy throughout the war, Ukraine has developed and used thousands of long-range drones to strike back at Russian warehouses, port infrastructure and oil refineries.

"That’s exactly why we ⁠say that de-escalation steps are needed before winter," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he has ​signed a "drone deal" with Finland, another in a series of agreements combining Kyiv's technical expertise with other countries' industrial capacity.

"We are always ready to share what has helped ⁠us save lives with our closest friends," Mr Zelensky wrote.

When the war began ​in ⁠February 2022, Ukraine had limited experience ‌in drone technology. Kyiv has rapidly developed its expertise and is now able to down drones, many of them designed by ‌Iran.

It has offered its technology to ‌a wide range of countries, many of them in the Middle East, facing Iranian weaponry.

Kyiv has now clinched "drone deals" with 10 countries and has an accord ⁠with the European Union.

In his address to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, Zelensky said a security accord had also been concluded with Australia.

He described the drone deals as "ready-made security formats that we adapt to each specific country and each specific region".

"We are already working with partners in the Gulf, the South Caucasus, and ‌across Europe through drone deals."

Developing drones, he said, ​allowed countries to control borders, mountain areas and roads "and ‌without them, this would simply be ⁠impossible".

Ukraine’s President Zelensky said he hoped to urge Chinese leader Xi Jinping to pressure Vladimir Putin into ending the war.

He told the UN General Assembly: “Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to speak directly with the leader of China, who is in who is in America today, but not here, and he is someone who can influence Russia too more than many many others can, and we would like him to want peace as much as we do in Ukraine.

“We believe the world has the power to make this happen.”