NATO member Poland is scrambling for more fighter jets overnight after Russia launched record numbers of drones and missiles at Ukraine.
The attack on Ukraine involved 782 Shaheds according to the Ukrainian Air Force, who also added that 13 missiles had also been fired comprising seven Iskander-K cruise missiles and six Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles. It said 718 weapons were neutralised in the overnight attack that ended on Wednesday morning.
"This is a telling attack — and it comes precisely at a time when so many efforts have been made to achieve peace, to establish a ceasefire, and yet only Russia continues to rebuff them all," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted to X.
This caused Poland to take measures to protect its own airspace.
At the same time, leaked audio has been released of President Donald Trump threatening to “bomb the s—- out of Moscow” if Russian President Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine.
The recording comes from a donor meeting in 2024, where he similarly threatened Chinese President Xi Jinping to deter China from invading Taiwan. The recording was obtained by journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf who shared the audio with CNN.
“With Putin I said, ‘If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,’” Trump said during one 2024 fundraiser, according to the audio.
“And then [Putin] goes, like, ‘I don’t believe you.’ But he believed me 10%.”
Trump’s first term as president was from January 2017 to January 2021, and it was not revealed when Trump made these threats.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 while Joe Biden was President.
“As President Trump has said time and again, Russia never dared invade Ukraine when he was in office. It happened only when Biden was in office,” a White House spokesperson said when asked about the audio.
“Thanks to this President’s leadership, America is once again the leader of the free world, and peace through strength is restored.
“President Trump won on an America First agenda, and he is working hard to implement the mandate the American people gave him.”
Kremlin Dmitry Peskov said he could not confirm or deny if the threats were real when asked by Reuters.
“Whether it is fake or not, we do not know either,” Peskov said, adding, "There is a lot of fake news these days.”
