NATO was forced to scramble warplanes in two allied countries after Russia fired waves of strikes on Ukraine. Fighter jets in Poland and Romania, which both share a border with Ukraine, were launched as a defensive precaution amid the major Russian attacks.

It came as the Kremlin warned Britain of “dire consequences” over the use by the Ukrainian armed forces of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russian territory. Russia launched drone and missile strikes across Ukraine overnight after suffering critical damage to its energy supplies and exports following a separate pinpoint Ukrainian strike on the port of Primorsk. Ukrainian officials said several civilians were killed in the latest strikes on the country.

Russia used strategic Russian bombers in the attacks which led to the scrambling of NATO fighters in Poland.

Warsaw’s operational command said: “Due to the activity of long-range Russian air forces conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, Polish and allied air forces have begun operating in our airspace.”

This involved fighters and early warning aircraft, with ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems placed on the “highest state of readiness”.

Hours earlier, two F-16 supersonic fighters were scrambled in fellow NATO state Romania as Russian drones attacked Ukraine on the bank of the River Danube — the border between Ukraine and Romania.

The Ukrainian air force said at 25 of at least the 34 missiles fired by Russia were shot down by air defences.

While 365 of the 426 drones launched by Vladimir Putin‘s forces were downed or disrupted.

Officials said one person was killed and five wounded in strikes on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, while two died and 11 were injured in hits on a hotel and housing in Poltava.

In Kharkiv region, an attack on a train killed a 61-year-old man and left others injured, according to officials.

Early morning explosions also rocked Ivano-Frankivsk region close to the Romanian border.

Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil port, was still in flames on Tuesday following a Ukrainian attack 24 hours earlier.

The disabling of this key export hub on the Baltic Sea is a critical blow to Russia and its shadow fleet as US oil sanctions are eased over the Iran crisis.