A Russian cruise missile crashed deep inside Polish territory early Thursday, prompting NATO to activate air defenses, as Moscow launched a massive overnight barrage across Ukraine that killed at least eight people, including three children .

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the missile, believed to be a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, landed and exploded about 90 kilometers (55 miles) into Polish territory, leaving a large crater in a field near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in Lublin province . Residents reported hearing a powerful blast around 4 a.m. local time .

Poland and NATO Respond

"All indications suggest that it was a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile," Tusk told an emergency government meeting . He stressed there were "no reasons to think Poland was the intended target," but added that Polish forces were prepared to shoot it down if it had threatened populated areas . The Polish military scrambled F-16 fighter jets, and NATO deployed assets including a refueling aircraft and a Polish early warning plane in response .

NATO confirmed the incident, with a spokesperson stating the alliance "will continue to take all necessary measures to defend NATO territory" . The violation of a NATO member's airspace by a Russian missile is one of the most serious incidents since the start of the full-scale invasion and risks escalation . Poland has previously experienced airspace violations, but this incident reached unusually far into its territory .

Deadly Attack Across Ukraine

The missile crash occurred during a massive Russian attack that used more than 70 missiles and over 280 attack drones, targeting multiple regions across Ukraine . Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as "brutal and cruel," targeting "ordinary homes, civilian businesses and infrastructure facilities" .

The worst strike was in the village of Radushne near Kryvyi Rih, where a ballistic missile hit a home housing a large family, killing six people, including a 6-year-old girl and two boys aged 11 and 17 . Two other children were pulled alive from the rubble . In the city of Lviv, near the Polish border, missile strikes damaged apartment buildings, injuring at least 26 people and prompting a major rescue operation . One person was killed in the capital Kyiv, and another in the Poltava region .

Air Defense Shortages and Calls for Aid

Zelenskyy highlighted a "critical shortage of air defense missiles from our partners," noting that while Ukraine's air force intercepted over 260 drones and several cruise missiles, it downed only one of nine ballistic missiles . He reiterated an urgent need for more Patriot systems, which are the only weapons capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles . Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the incursion into Poland "yet another clear demonstration that strengthening Ukraine's air defense now is urgent and serves as a guarantee for the protection of the entire Euro-Atlantic community" .