ATHENS 

Poland activated its air defense systems across the country in response to intense Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian regions close to the Polish border on Wednesday morning, the defense minister announced.

Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the deputy prime minister and defense minister, told Radio ZET that Russia attacked several Ukrainian cities, including Lviv, near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

“We activate our air defense systems” following attacks close to the Polish border, he said.

Russia is switching over to a war economy, producing more arms and munitions and even receiving weapons from allies such as North Korea, Kamysz claimed while explaining the reasons for the recent increase in attacks on Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported missile and drone attacks on several cities, including Kharkiv, Lviv, Kyiv, and Mykolaiv, resulting in damage to residential areas and energy infrastructure and the deaths of six people.

Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in Feb. 2022. In support of Ukraine, Western countries imposed harsh sanctions on Russia, and Kyiv has since received arms, humanitarian, and economic assistance.

On Feb. 24, the conflict will reach its third year.