While air raid sirens during visits by foreign leaders have sounded before, it is rare for air defenses to actually have to fight off attacking drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned allies that the defense of his nation is a litmus test for broader Western resolve.

The barrage appeared to be one of the largest recent assaults in Ukraine’s campaign to damage Russia’s war machine on its home territory.

Air defences were engaged in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv on Thursday to repel a Russian drone attack, officials said, and Reuters witness reported explosions in the city while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was visiting.

While the Norwegian jets are primarily in Poland to help defend a key logistics hub bringing materiel into Ukraine, rogue Russian missiles and drones have entered Polish airspace several times since the full-scale invasion began.

Russia's military on Tuesday said it would retaliate against Ukraine after Kyiv attacked Russian regions by firing six U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles, six UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles and launching one of the biggest drone attacks to date.

NATO member Poland scrambled fighter jets after overnight Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, Warsaw's military said on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces told Newsweek that "intense long-range aviation activity" from Russia had been detected early on Wednesday.

Ukraine has launched its largest attack on Russian military facilities, deploying British Storm Shadow missiles, US-made Atacms missiles and 146 drones to strike targets deep inside Russian territory.