Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on Ukraine,veering close to the border with Poland and sparking a reaction from Nato.

Member states are on high alert after the strikes came disconcertingly close to the organisation’s doorstep.

Poland,a key member of the military alliance on its eastern border,sent out fighter jets during the attacks as a preventative measure.

People took cover in Kyiv and surrounding areas after missiles and suicide drones bombarded the Ukrainian capital,hitting several residential buildings.

A resident tried to extinguish burning garages outside a Kyiv block of flats damaged in the overnight attacks (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Russian missiles rained on Kyiv and the surrounding regions (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.At least eight people were killed in Kyiv and the wider region,while around 60 were injured.A missile plant is thought to have been hit,leading to secondary blasts.Putin’s army used 68 missiles and 351 drones in last night’s assault,according to the Ukrainian air force.Dozens of vehicles were burned to the ground after airstrikes (Picture: REUTERS)A girl watched on this morning as rescue workers searched for her relative in a wrecked building (Picture: REUTERS)Poland’s armed forces operational command commented on the overnight response: ‘Due to the activity of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,which strikes the territory of Ukraine,military aviation has begun operations in Polish airspace.‘Fighters started the operation,and ground air defence systems and radio-location recognition have reached alert.’An urgent evacuation was ordered in Vyshneve,Kyiv region,amid threats of more detonations and toxic smoke at the Zhulyansky Machine-Building Plant Vizar,which caused ‘coughing and headaches.’ Homes were destroyed in the night of missile and drone strikes (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)Hours earlier,Volodymyr Zelensky said intelligence indicated a huge strike ordered by Russian president Vladimir Putin was imminent. ‘Russia wants to bring more evil and kill people. Please stay safe and heed any air raid alerts,’ he warned Ukrainians.Despite the warnings,dozens of people were caught out,with reports that an entire family,a mum,dad and son were killed in one neighbourhood.Kyiv Roshen Confectionery Factory,owned by former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko,and the city’s hydroelectric power station were among the targets.Several Ukrainian regions are said to be without power after the Russian airstrikes,including Kyiv,Sumy,Kharkiv and Chernihiv.Russia’s show of force and aggression comes a day before Nato leaders are due to meet in Ankara for a high-level summit on Tuesday.Putin’s army has born the brunt of casualties in the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Picture: Getty Images)The military alliance has faced headaches caused by the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict and the US-Iran war.Tensions have been growing between Nato and the US president,Donald Trump,who regularly threatens to pull America out of the alliance.Meanwhile,the Russian army is feeling the brunt of the invasion of Ukraine since February 2022,making it increasingly harder for Putin to hide the impact of the war at home.Up to 450,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war started,while Ukraine has seen between 125,000 and 150,000 fatalities,according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.It said: ‘Russian fatalities in Ukraine are more than four times greater than all US fatalities in all wars combined since world war two.’Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .For more stories like this,check our news page.