Russia has fired cruise missiles at a western Ukraine city far from the frontline of the war, killing at least seven people in a block of flats, in what officials said was the heaviest attack on civilian areas of Lviv since the Kremlin’s forces invaded Ukraine last year.
The night-time attack destroyed the roof and top two floors of a residential building, injuring nine people as emergency crews with search dogs went through the rubble.
Debris and wrecked parked cars lined the street outside the building, which overlooks a small neighbourhood park with swings and climbing frames set among trees.
The Lviv mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, said about 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of strike had been damaged in the attack on Thursday.
The US ambassador to Ukraine described the attack as vicious. “Russia’s repeated attacks on civilians are absolutely horrifying,” Bridget Brink tweeted.
The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly hit civilian areas, though Russian officials say they choose targets only of military value.
Lviv is near the western border with Poland and is more than 300 miles (500km) from the frontlines of the war in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Kyiv’s counteroffensive to dislodge Russian forces is in its early stages.
Ukraine’s air force reported it had intercepted seven of the 10 Kalibr cruise missiles that Russia had fired from the Black Sea towards the Lviv region and its namesake city at approximately 1am on Thursday.
Sadovyi addressed residents in a video message, saying the attack was the largest on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion last year.
“Russians are hitting us. That’s how they love us. I’m sorry for those people who were killed. They were young. So sorry for them,” said Ganna Fedorenko, a local resident who sustained injuries on her face. “This is terrible. They hit civilians.”
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The Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote on Telegram: “Unfortunately there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives! There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one.”
In the early days of the war, Lviv served as a main transit point for millions of refugees from various parts of Ukraine who crossed the border to Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from the east and south remained in the calmer and safer Lviv.
Like the rest of the country, Lviv experienced power outages when Russia fired hundreds missiles over the winter, aiming to destroy Ukraine’s energy system. However, the attacks in the city were not as frequent as in the capital, Kyiv, and Thursday’s strike was a shock for many.
Ukrainians shared messages of support on social media for Lviv residents.
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