NATO Fighter Jet Deployed Amid Russia's Deadly Attack On Ukraine

JAKARTA - NATO fighter jets are deployed and ground-based air defense systems are at their highest alert level in Poland and Romania during a massive and deadly attack by Russia on a number of targets in Ukraine.

One unmanned aircraft (drone) reportedly broke about 8 kilometers into Romanian airspace before it disappeared from radar, the Defense Ministry in Bukares said in a statement reported by ABC News, Wednesday, November 19.

At least 20 people were killed in a Russian attack on the city of Ternopil, western Ukraine, the Ministry of Home Affairs said, where two residential buildings were nine floors hit by Russian ammunition. A total of 66 others were injured, the ministry said.

"One caught fire, the other was damaged from the third to ninth floors," the ministry said of the buildings affected by the attack.

"About five hundred rescue teams and more than a hundred equipment units are working in nine active locations," the ministry continued.

The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 476 unmanned aircraft (drone) and 48 missiles into the country overnight, with the Lviv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv regions the focus of attack.

The attack was the largest in November to date, according to Air Force data, and the largest since Russia launched 705 ammunition into the country on October 30.

The defense managed to down or tame 442 unmanned aircraft (drone) and 41 missiles, the Air Force said. Impacts of 34 unmanned aircraft and seven missiles were reported in 14 locations, he added, with debris falling reported in six locations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said attacks were reported across the country, in areas including Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Dnipro.

At least 19 long-range drones attacked the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, where local officials said nearly 50 people were injured.

"Any blatant attack on normal life suggests that pressure on Russia is inadequate," Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Telegram.

"Russia must be responsible for its actions, and we must focus on everything that strengthens us and allows us to shoot down Russian missiles, neutralize Russian drones, and stop attacks," he stressed.