A general view of damaged buildings following a Russian rocket strike that hit an apartment building, in Lviv, Ukraine in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released on 6 July 2023;
Credit: Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters
LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - A Russian missile strike killed at least four people in Lviv on Thursday 6 July 2023 in the biggest attack on the western Ukrainian city's civilian infrastructure since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian officials said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a one-minute video online showing buildings with parts of the roof and upper floors destroyed, windows smashed and rescuers searching through the debris for survivors. He said there would be a response.
"Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the families," Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app. "There definitely will be a response to the enemy. It will be a noticeable one."
The Interior Ministry put the death toll at four and said 32 people had been wounded, including a child. Rescuers were continuing to work at the scene.
The emergency services said they had managed to rescue seven people from the rubble and evacuated 64 others.
Mayor Andriy Sadovyi called it the largest attack of the more than sixteen-month-old war on civilian infrastructure in Lviv, a city that is far from frontlines and about 70 km from the border with NATO member Poland.
Lviv was home to about 700,000 people before Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. The population has swollen since the war began because many people have fled to the city from fighting and air strikes in other parts of the country.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had attacked Lviv with Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea. It said seven out of ten missiles were shot down.
Sadovyi said that several residential houses, an office center, a student campus, and a school were damaged. He said windows in hundreds of apartments were smashed and damage would be costly.
