Four killed, wounded numbers growing in the biggest attack yet on Lviv
In the most ravaging missile attack on Ukraine since the inception of the war, Russia bombed the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on July 6, 2023. The war has now strayed afar from the frontlines, and seeped into the civilian sphere. This was the biggest offensive against civilian infrastructure since the invasion began in February last year, the city’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi confirmed.
At least four have been killed in the missile strike, and the number of injured people remains at 32 and counting, with approximately 60 apartments in the residential building and 50 vehicles wrecked. Three women and a man were those amongst the deceased. Lviv has now gone into a state of mourning. The head of the Latin-rite Church in Lviv, Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki appealed to people to pray for the dead and for peace in Ukraine.
In a search and rescue operation, the emergency services have managed to rescue seven people from the rubble and evacuated 64, as rescuers continue to comb through the debris.
The severity of the attack prompted an immediate response from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who vowed a strong counteroffensive in retaliation to the overnight blitz.
Zelenskyy has admitted that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has a slower pace than anticipated, slowed down due to delays in the delivery of ‘weapons and other materials’ by the US and European leaders.
Russia’s night ambush from ships and submarines stationed in the Black Sea included the firing of 10 Kalibr cruise missiles, out of which seven were struck down by Ukrainian forces, said the country’s air force.
Attacks have been less frequent on cities in the western side of Ukraine where Lviv is situated, as compared to cities on the southern and eastern front which sit closer to the border areas. This missile strike has now damaged an important city on an important supply route for western military aid.
Image Source: Vatican News
UNESCO condemned the bombing in Lviv and expressed solidarity with the families of the victims. The destruction of an area coming under the ambit of the World Heritage Convention is a gross violation of the Convention, UNESCO noted.
This missile attack is also a violation of the 1954 Hague Convention, which primarily serves the purpose of Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the UN cultural agency added.
The historic building damaged by the strike is part of the World Heritage Site ‘buffer zone’ of ‘Lviv- the Ensemble of the Historic Centre’.
Why is Lviv important?
Lviv is situated 60 kms from the border that Ukraine shares with Poland, and has been a refuge to thousands of fleeing Ukrainians. By carrying out attacks in the city, Russia is ‘deliberately targeting’ civilian landscapes, and even for the motive of intimidating Europe, noted Serhiy Kruk, the head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
In the aftermath of the strike, Russia’s defence ministry claimed that western-made armoured vehicles were the targets of the attack, and that all assigned targets were hit, significantly affecting the enemy’s reserves.
