Four dead after missile strike on apartment block in Ukraine鈥檚 Lviv

Rescuers are working to reach those still trapped under rubble. (AP)
Short Url
  • Rescuers are working to reach those still trapped under rubble
  • More than 50 apartments destroyed and a dormitory at Lviv Polytechnic University damaged

KYIV: A missile attack on an apartment block in western Ukraine鈥檚 Lviv killed four people on Thursday, in what its mayor said was the biggest attack on civilian infrastructure in the city since Russia鈥檚 invasion of the country began.
While Russia regularly pounds Ukraine with missiles, artillery and drones, the Lviv region, hundreds of kilometers from the frontlines and near the Polish border, has largely been spared the aerial onslaughts.
鈥淎n apartment building was damaged as a result of the Russian missile attack,鈥� Ukraine鈥檚 Interior Minister Igor Klymenko wrote on Telegram.
鈥淭he 3rd and 4th floors in two sections of the house were destroyed... As of 7:00 am 4 people were killed, 9 were injured.鈥�
Rescuers were working to reach those still trapped under rubble, he said.
More than 50 apartments had been 鈥渞uined鈥� and a dormitory at Lviv Polytechnic University had been damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Telegram.
鈥淭his is the biggest attack on Lviv鈥檚 civilian infrastructure since the beginning鈥� of Russia鈥檚 invasion, he said.
鈥淐onsequences of the night attack by Russian terrorists,鈥� Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote alongside a Telegram video post showing a damaged building.
鈥淭here will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one.鈥�
It was unclear how many missiles had been launched.
Earlier, regional governor Maksym Kozytski said 鈥渟everal鈥� missiles were 鈥渕oving in the direction of the western regions鈥�, citing Ukraine鈥檚 Air Force Command.
A separate video posted by Kozytski showed a multi-story building with part of its top floor destroyed.
Emergency services were on the scene and rescuers were 鈥渟orting through the debris,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s of now, the rubble is being dismantled,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are doing everything possible to... save people.鈥�
Unverified videos posted to Telegram purporting to show the aftermath of a strike showed shattered glass littering the floor of what appeared to be a dormitory.
It was not clear if the videos showed the same strike.
On June 20, Lviv was hit by a major Russian drone assault on Kyiv and other cities.
Ukraine has recently bolstered its air defense systems with Western-supplied weapons and the number of Russian missiles and drones breaking through has diminished.
But the spokesman for Ukraine鈥檚 air force, Yuriy Ignat, recently said that newly supplied systems were still insufficient to cover the whole country.
Slow weapons deliveries to Ukraine delayed Kyiv鈥檚 planned counteroffensive, allowing Russia to bolster its defenses in occupied areas, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a TV interview broadcast Wednesday.
鈥淥ur slowed-down counteroffensive is happening due to certain difficulties in the battlefield. Everything is heavily mined there,鈥� he told CNN via a translator in the pre-taped interview.