Sept 20 (Reuters) – Polish and allied aircraft were deployed early Saturday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace following Russia’s airstrikes on western Ukraine near Poland’s border, as reported by the NATO-member country’s armed forces.

“Polish and allied aircraft are active in our airspace, with ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems raised to their highest readiness,” stated the operational command in a post on X.

At 0340 GMT, nearly all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.

At approximately 0500 GMT, the Polish and allied air forces concluded their operation as Russian airstrikes on Ukraine had stopped, the Polish command indicated, noting that the measures were “preventative and aimed at securing the airspace near the threatened area.”