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A series of “powerful” Russian strikes on military infrastructure in Lviv on Monday left several dead and ignited blazes in the western Ukraine city that to date has been spared fierce fighting.
A resident of Lviv told AFP they could see thick plumes of grey smoke rising above residential buildings and air raid sirens sounded throughout the city during and after the strikes.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said seven people were killed and 12 wounded in the strikes.
Earlier, regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said four Russian missiles had targeted Ukrainian military infrastructure and that a car tyre centre had also been struck. He said the wounded included a child, and emergency teams were battling the resultant fires
“Fires were set off as a result of the strikes. They are still being put out. The facilities were severely damaged,” Mr Kozytsky said.
Twenty-one-year-old Lviv resident Andrei said he was sleeping when the sirens began wailing at around 8am local time.
“I slept through the first three strikes, but then when the last one hit, it was like my windows were about to break, and the furniture moved,” he told AFP.
Lviv, near Ukraine's border with Poland, so far been spared being embroiled in the worst of the fighting caused by Russia's invasion of its pro-western neighbour nearly two months ago.
The city instead has become of refuge for people displaced from the war-scarred east and at the start of the fighting hosted several western embassies transferred from Kyiv.
Russian attacks intensify
The attacks on Monday come as Russia has intensified strikes in and around the capital Kyiv further east, targeting over several days a number of facilities that produce military hardware.
Moscow vowed to increase strikes on the capital in response to what Russian military officials claimed were Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil and the sinking of the Moskva warship.
“Five powerful missile strikes at once on the civilian infrastructure of the old European city of Lviv,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
“The Russians continue barbarically attacking Ukrainian cities from the air, cynically declaring to the whole world their 'right' to kill Ukrainians,” he said.
The head of Ukraine's national railways, Alexander Kamyshin, said on social media that some of the site's infrastructure had been damaged and there would probably be delays to services, but no passengers or staff were injured.
AFP journalists saw black smoke billowing from the gutted roof of a car repair shop above railway tracks in the north-west of the city, around four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the city centre.
Lviv in late March was hit by series of Russian strikes that were aimed at a fuel depot and injured five people. On March 18, bombardments hit an aircraft repair factory near Lviv's airport. No injuries were reported.
Russian cruise missiles on March 13 targeted a major military base about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north west of Lviv, killing at least 35 people and injuring 134.
Russia-Ukraine latest — in pictures
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Thick smoke rises from Rubizhne city after a series of Russian strikes. AFP -
A civilian building hit by a Russian missile in Lviv, Ukraine. At least six people were killed and eight wounded in missile strikes across the city, its governor said. Getty Images -
A train travelling from Dnipro passes by the site of an air strike in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo -
At least three rows of new graves are created for people killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a cemetery in Irpin, Kyiv region. Reuters -
People attend a 'Free Ukraine' demonstration in Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. EPA -
Aid workers carry bottled drinking water to a humanitarian centre in Odesa. From there it will be sent to the neighbouring city of Mykolaiv, which has been without its central water supply for days as a result of damage during hostilities with Russian troops. AFP -
Residents examine a crater on the road, after shelling in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. AFP -
Firefighters tackle a blaze in a residential building, after a bombardment in central Kharkiv. AFP -
A teenager sits on a playground swing, opposite a gutted apartment block in Borodianka, in the Kyiv region. AFP -
A man leans his foot on the barrel of a destroyed Russian tank while tying his shoelace, in Andriivka, Kyiv region. AFP -
Ariana plays with her dogs Chim and Nunia, inside a train, minutes before arriving with her family in western city of Lviv from Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian troops run for cover from explosions, during a Russian attack in central Kharkiv. AP -
Ira Slepchenko, 54, and Valya Naumenko, 47, embrace as they mourn the deaths of their husbands, at the exhumation of a mass grave in Bucha, near Kyiv. AP -
Father Paul Koroluk, of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Japan, leads parishioners in a Palm Sunday procession outside Saint Alban's church in Tokyo. Getty Images -
Wounded civilians await medical attention after Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Residents bury two bodies in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv, where hundreds of people were found massacred. AFP -
Ihor welcomes Lyudmila, who has returned from neighboring Poland, at Kyev-Pasazhyrsky train station. AFP -
Galina Bondar, 63, who said her son, Olexander Bondar, 32, a territorial defence member, was killed by Russian troops, kisses the plaque bearing his name at his grave in Bucha. Reuters -
A badly damaged block of flats in Mariupol. Reuters -
A woman sits at what remains of a bus stop in the southern port city. Reuters -
Pro-Russian troops drive tanks near Mariupol. Reuters -
People attend a Palm Sunday church service in Kharkiv. Getty -
Passengers rest on the train minutes before arriving in Lviv from Kyiv. AP -
A man takes a selfie in front of a destroyed Russian tank in the village of Andriivka. AFP -
People outside Downing Street, London, take part in a demonstration against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. PA -
The Ukrainian flag flutters between buildings destroyed in bombardment in the town of Borodyanka. AFP -
Firefighters at work in the aftermath of a Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen run for cover as explosions are heard during a Russian attack in Kharkiv. AP -
Christina Dragun holds her daughter, Olya Siksoy, during the burial of her husband, Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Siksoy at Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv. Getty -
Vehicles destroyed during the Russian invasion lie at a junkyard in Irpin. EPA
