Kyiv: A devastating overnight Russian drone and missile attack on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the border with NATO member Poland, claimed the lives of seven people, including three children, local officials reported on Wednesday. The strikes also inflicted severe damage on historic buildings in the heart of Lviv, highlighting the ongoing destruction in Ukraine.
The attack on Lviv followed the deadliest single strike of the war this year, where Russia targeted a military institute in Poltava with two ballistic missiles, resulting in 50 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine’s allies to help halt the ongoing “terror” by supplying more air defenses. He reiterated his plea for the approval of long-range Western weapons to be used deeper into Russian territory. “Everyone who persuades partners to give Ukraine more long-range capability to respond to terror fairly is working to prevent exactly these kinds of Russian terrorist strikes on Ukrainian cities,” Zelenskiy stated.
While Russia has yet to comment on the strikes in Lviv or the previous day’s attack in Poltava, Moscow warned on Wednesday that it would deliver an “extremely painful” response if Ukraine were to launch long-range strikes on Russian territory.
Ukraine’s air force reported that it successfully intercepted seven out of 13 missiles and 22 out of 29 drones during Russia’s latest offensive. Despite these efforts, the attack resulted in the deaths of a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old, according to regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi, who shared the news via the Telegram messaging app. Additionally, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko noted that approximately 40 people were injured in the assault.
Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, informed national television that over 70 structures, including schools, homes, and clinics, had suffered damage.
Damage to Lviv’s Historic Heritage
Among the damaged structures were at least seven local architectural monuments located within the city’s historic area and UNESCO buffer zone, which is dedicated to protecting World Heritage sites, as reported by Kozytskyi.
On the same day, Russia launched an attack on the city of Kryvyi Rih, injuring five people, including a 10-year-old child, according to Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Serhiy Lysak. The attack also damaged four educational institutions, a hotel, a pharmacy, and other shops.
In the past ten days, Russia has bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones, a campaign that some Russian military bloggers claim is Moscow’s response to a recent Ukrainian incursion into Russian territory.
Poland, which borders Ukraine, scrambled its aircraft for the third time in eight days on Wednesday to secure its airspace, the Polish armed forces’ operational command reported. Lviv is located only about 70 km (43 miles) from the Polish border. “This is another very busy night for the entire air defense system in Poland due to … the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation carrying out strikes,” the command stated on X.
Moscow, while previously denying targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began more than 30 months ago, maintains that Ukrainian military, energy, and transport infrastructure are legitimate military targets.
