NATO was forced to scramble warplanes in member states Romania and Poland amid Russia’s latest aggression. A Kremlin military drone overflew Romanian territory as Vladimir Putin again posed a direct threat to the West.
But Ukraine struck Russia hard, dramatically exploding a major defence-linked chemicals plant more than 1,000 miles from the frontline and triggering fires at two major oil refineries.
Sirens sounded and an air raid threat was declared as Warsaw announced Polish and allied fighter jets were operating due to Russian drones buzzing border regions of Ukraine.
This followed last week’s major incursion of Polish airspace by dozens of Russian drones.
Two F-16 fighter aircraft from Romania’s 86th Air Base in Fetești as Russia attacked Ukrainian ports on the River Danube.
A Russian drone was spotted and tracked 12 miles southwest of Chilia Veche before vanishing from radar in Putin’s latest military incursion into NATO airspace.
The drone “did not fly over populated areas and did not pose an immediate threat to the safety of the population”, said the Romanian defence ministry.
But Ukraine claimed it had flown over NATO airspace for an astonishing 50 minutes, highlighting Putin’s “obvious expansion of the war”.
This latest tension came as Putin ostentatiously deployed hulking nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile launchers close to Russia’s border with Poland in Kaliningrad region, supposedly as part of current drills aimed at war gaming attacks on the West.
The short-range ballistic missile system, capable of carrying nuclear or conventional warheads.
Iskander-M missiles have a range of over 310 miles and can carry 10–50 kiloton nuclear warheads, comparable to Hiroshima–Nagasaki bombs.
NATO capitals Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga and possibly Tallinn and Berlin are in range of this deployment.
Elsewhere in the Zapad-2025 war games, Russian warship Admiral Golovko was seen launching a Tsirkon – or Zircon – hypersonic missile in the Barents Sea.
In an audacious overnight strike deep inside Russia, Ukraine struck defence-linked Russian chemical plant Metafrax Chemicals in Gubakha, Perm region, triggering explosions and fire.
The plant produces key precursors for high explosives like PETN and RDX for the Russian armed forces.
It is more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Ukrainian territory.
Separately, footage showed the moment a Ukrainian drone hit Novo-Ufimsky oil refinery in Ufa, some 870 miles from the frontline.
On another hit on Russian refining, one of Putin’s largest oil refineries – Kirishi, in Leningrad region – was ablaze after a Ukrainian strike.
This has a capacity of some 21 million tons per year.
Ukraine’s campaign to disrupt oil refining and supplies in Russia has led to shortages and acute price jumps in dozens of regions.
An explosion of a bomb on a Russian rail mainline in Oryol region killed two national guards officers, according to reports.
Major train delays were caused by the blast.
A giant explosion in Kalynivka in Kyiv region was believed to have come during rail transportation of ammunition.
Some reports said it was due to a Russian missile strike but this was not initially officially confirmed.
It resulted in train disruption early on Sunday.
There were also reports of Russian ballistic missiles striking Dnipro.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for tougher US action “to halt Russia’s war machine”.
He said: “Everyone sees that Russia’s war against Ukraine is Putin’s war. Everyone sees that the Russian drones attacking Poland are also Putin’s war. And this is a warning not only to Poland but to all of Europe.
“Romania scrambled combat aircraft due to a Russian drone in its airspace…..
“The Russian military clearly understands where their drones are directed and how long they can stay in the air.
“The routes are always calculated.
“This cannot be a coincidence, mistake, or unauthorised action by lower-level commanders.
“This is an obvious expansion of the war by Russia, and this is exactly how they operate.”