- Written by Yaroslav Lukiev and Thomas Mackintosh
- BBC News
Witness: Lviv apartments reduced to rubble by missiles
At least four people, including two women, aged 21 and 95, have been killed after a Russian missile hit an apartment building in Lviv, western Ukraine.
Another 34 people were injured in what the mayor of Lviv described as “one of the largest attacks” on the city’s civilian infrastructure.
The head of the Lviv region, Maxim Kozitsky, said more than 30 homes were destroyed.
The Russian military has not commented on the reported attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed a “concrete” response to the attack by “Russian terrorists” overnight.
Mr Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram: “The youngest girl killed by a missile in her apartment tonight in Lviv, she was only 21 years old. Russia is killing our youth. Our future.
“The oldest person to die was 95. Women survived World War II, but unfortunately they did not survive racism.”
Kosicetsky said emergency services were still working to clear the rubble and rescue people who were feared to be trapped under the rubble.
“There is a shelter next to the house that was hit by a missile,” he added.
“It’s in good condition and was open at the time of the alarm. But only five people were in the shelter from the entire building. Very disappointing.”
Dr. Sasha Dovcik, who works at the Ukrainian Institute in London but is currently in Lviv, described hiding in her bathroom when she heard the air raid sirens.
“This is what we are supposed to do,” she told the BBC. “This is the Ukrainian routine.
“You are supposed to put up two walls and preferably no windows, no glass, between you and the street, and between the outside.
“When the missile, the missile and the Kalibur missile as we now know it hit an apartment building two kilometers away, the walls of the bathroom where I was hiding shook, so the impact was very strong.”
Interior Minister Ihor Klimenko said there were fears that people were trapped under the rubble
The Ukrainian Air Force accused Russia of firing missiles from the Black Sea.
Posting on Telegram, Ukraine’s armed forces said “seven out of ten Kalibr cruise missiles” were shot down, but said one missile “changed course” to the west and hit Lviv.
The BBC has not been able to verify these allegations.
For months, Russia has been carrying out deadly missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, usually hitting civilian targets and causing widespread blackouts.
Last week, 13 people — including children — were killed when a restaurant and shopping center were bombed in Kramatorsk, an eastern city near Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Although Lviv is located in western Ukraine, and is relatively far from the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine, it has also suffered from Russian attacks in the past.
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