A rare Russian daytime drone attack on Ukraine killed three people, wounded several dozen and set a constructing within the historic center of the western city of Lviv aflame on Tuesday, officials said, following an overnight bombardment that killed five.
Greater than 550 drones were launched at Ukraine in the course of the day, Ukraine’s air force said, an abrupt change from Russia’s usual tactic of launching similarly massive aerial attacks at night during its greater than four-year-old war.
It followed an earlier attack overnight through which it fired a whole lot of drones and dozens of missiles. Taken altogether, Russia had launched nearly 1,000 long-range drones at Ukraine since Monday evening, Kyiv said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said the size of the attacks showed that more pressure needed to be exerted on Russia.
“The dimensions of this attack clearly shows that Russia has no real intention of ending this war. And considering that Russia can be helping the Iranian regime perform strikes within the region, the conclusion is clear,” he said.
“Without additional and powerful pressure on Russia, without tangible losses for them there in Moscow, no desire will develop to maneuver away from the war or return to peace.”
Video footage posted online showed a drone crashing into an old constructing next to a church within the historic center of Lviv, 60 km (37 miles) from the Polish border, and Warsaw said it scrambled fighter jets.
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Twenty-two people in town were wounded, officials said.
Russia attack hits UNESCO World Heritage site
The attack stunned residents of Lviv, which lies closer to Vienna than to the closest energetic frontline on the opposite side of Ukraine. Even though it has seen some lethal bombardments, they’re far less frequent than in other major cities.
Resident Tetiana Kachkovska saw the drone glide past the fifth floor window of her workplace.
“My hands were shaking, my legs were shaking,” she recalled. “You may’t get used to this.”
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said a residential constructing was hit by a second drone. Debris from a 3rd fell in a street.
“Russia is attacking a crowded city center in broad daylight,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.
Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said a part of the Bernardine monastery complex within the historic center of Lviv, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, had been damaged.
In one other western Ukrainian city, Ivano-Frankivsk, a national guard soldier and his 15-year-old daughter were killed by a strike, in keeping with regional Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk.
She said he had attended the birth of his daughter at a close-by maternity hospital several days ago. Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said windows at that hospital had been blown out, but no one inside was harmed.
Vinnytsia Governor Natalia Zabolotna said one person had been killed and 13 wounded in her region, southwest of Kyiv.
Air defenses engaged drones throughout the day near Kyiv.
Officials within the western region of Ternopil said two energy facilities were attacked.
Moscow denies targeting civilians, although its attacks have killed hundreds because it invaded in February 2022. It says Ukraine’s civil infrastructure is a legitimate goal because striking it could possibly reduce Kyiv’s ability to wage war.
Ukraine has also targeted Russia’s energy system, particularly oil refineries, depots and transport terminals.
Earlier overnight attacks killed five people across Ukraine and caused disruption to power supplies in Moldova, where parliament declared a 60-day energy state of emergency.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 34 missiles and 392 drones overnight and that 25 missiles and 365 drones had been downed or neutralized.
Two people were killed and 12 wounded, including a five-year-old child, near the eastern city of Poltava, a regional official said.
Zelenskiy said damage had been reported in 11 regions and issued a brand new appeal for allies to supply air defense munitions.
He has repeatedly warned that Kyiv, whose predominant supplier of air defense systems against ballistic missiles is the US, will face a deficit of missiles while Washington is concentrated on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.