A series of “powerful” Russian strikes on military infrastructure in Lviv on Monday left several dead and ignited blazes in the west Ukraine city that has been spared fierce fighting.
A resident of Lviv told AFP they could see thick plumes of grey smoke rising above residential buildings and air raid sirens sounded throughout the city during and after the strikes.
“At the moment, we are able to confirm that six are dead and eight injured. A child was among the victims,” the Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said on social media.
He said that four Russian missiles had targeted Ukrainian military infrastructure and that a car tyre centre had also been struck.
“Fires were set off as a result of the strikes. They are still being put out. The facilities were severely damaged,” Kozytsky said.
The strikes in Lviv come as Russia has intensified strikes in and around the capital Kyiv further east, targeting several facilities that produce military hardware over several days.
“Five powerful missile strikes at once on the civilian infrastructure of the old European city of Lviv,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
“The Russians continue barbarically attacking Ukrainian cities from the air, cynically declaring to the whole world their ‘right’ to kill Ukrainians,” he added.
The head of Ukraine’s national railways Alexander Kamyshin said on social media that some of the work’s infrastructure had been damaged and there would likely be delays to services but no passengers or staff were injured.
He also distributed a photo showing a blaze rising and plumes of smoke billowing from a small building adjacent to a railway track.
Sadovy said there had been no immediate confirmation of any deaths or injuries following the strikes.
Lviv in late March was hit by series of Russian strikes that targeted a fuel depot and injured five people. On 18 March, 2022, bombardments hit an aircraft repair factory near Lviv’s airport. No injuries were reported.
Russian cruise missiles on 13 March, 2022, targeted a major military base about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north west of Lviv, killing at least 35 people and injuring 134.
Close to the Polish border, Lviv has become a city of refuge for displaced persons and at the start of the war hosted several Western embassies transferred from Kyiv.
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