NATO responded swiftly by deploying fighter jets when Vladimir Putin initiated a devastating missile attack on Ukraine just before peace talks were set to begin in Geneva. The intensity of the strikes indicated Putin’s lack of interest in ending the conflict, despite sending a negotiation team to Switzerland.
Russia utilized its powerful Tu-95MS strategic bombers to launch cruise missile attacks on various targets. A Ukrainian F-16 successfully downed a Russian Shahed drone in a dramatic encounter. Reports revealed that Western F-16 pilots, including veterans from the US and the Netherlands, were actively defending Ukrainian airspace against Putin’s drones and missiles for the first time.
A squadron of seasoned NATO pilots flying F-16s was covertly assembled to patrol the skies over the Kyiv region in collaboration with the Ukrainian armed forces. These pilots are reportedly equipped with Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pods to intercept incoming Russian drones. In response to the missile strikes hitting western Ukraine, NATO fighter jets were also dispatched, with explosions reported near a major power station in Burshtyn.
Stryi, a critical rail and energy hub near the Polish border, was under sustained attack, alongside other cities like Kryvyi Rih and Odesa, which faced relentless bombardment. The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) was put on alert by Warsaw’s operational command due to the Russian threat over Polish territory, although no airspace violations were reported.
Despite the extensive Russian attacks, former US President Donald Trump continued to pressure Ukrainian President Zelensky to make concessions ahead of the Geneva talks involving US officials. Meanwhile, Putin’s negotiating team, headed by Vladimir Medinsky, made a lengthy journey from Moscow to Geneva, circumventing Western flight restrictions with the help of Italy opening its airspace.
Overnight strikes by Ukrainian forces targeted crucial Russian military suppliers, resulting in the destruction of a major oil refinery in Ilsky and the closure of key airports in southern Russia. Explosions in various Russian cities, including Izhevsk, also occurred, disrupting normal activities. Zelensky’s forces were accused of carrying out a long-distance strike on a chemical plant in the Perm region, which produces components for explosives used in the conflict.
