Four dead following Russian missile strike in Lviv, Ukraine

At least four people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Lviv, the most significant attack on civilian areas of the city since Russia’s full-scale invasion began last year. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the attack in a Thursday post on his Telegram account, sending his condolences to the relatives of the wounded and dead and blaming “Russian terrorists” for the night-time attack. 

“There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one,” he said. 

The attack also injured at least 34 people as it destroyed the roof and the top two floors of a residential building. 

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said about 60 apartments and 50 cars nearby were damaged. The country’s Internal Affairs Ministry said 64 people needed to leave their homes as a result of the strike. 

Sadovyi announced two days of mourning for those lost in the attack. 

The Ukrainian air force said it successfully intercepted seven of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles Russia fired from the Black Sea toward Lviv around 1 a.m., but the others got through. Russia has asserted during the war that it only hits targets of military value, but it has repeatedly struck civilian areas throughout the conflict. 

Lviv, which is near Ukraine’s western border with Poland, is more than 300 miles away from the front lines of the fighting in the southern and eastern parts of the country. The city was a main point of transportation for millions of refugees fleeing from Russian forces early in the war, while hundreds of thousands had moved from other parts of Ukraine closer to the frontlines to the calmer city. 

Reuters reported that Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, called for additional air defense systems from Ukraine’s Western allies in response to the attack. He also called for Ukraine to officially be added as a member of NATO. 

The attack came as Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive has gotten underway in the past few weeks. British officials have said Russia and Ukraine appear to be taking heavy losses during the fighting. 

The Associated Press contributed.