(Reuters) -Polish and allied aircraft were deployed early on Wednesday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after Russia launched airstrikes targeting western Ukraine near the border with Poland, armed forces of the NATO-member country said.

“Quick-reaction fighter pairs and an early warning aircraft have been scrambled, and ground-based air defence and radar surveillance systems have reached the highest state of readiness,” the operational command said in a post on X.

At 0400 GMT, nearly all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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