Russian Air Attack Injures One and Sparks Fire in Ukraine’s Lviv, Officials Report

Russian Air Attack Injures One and Sparks Fire in Ukraine’s Lviv, Officials Report

Lviv under fire

The western Ukrainian city of Lviv was hit by a series of explosions in the early hours of Tuesday, injuring one man and sparking a huge fire at an industrial warehouse.

Local officials said the blasts were caused by a Russian air strike, as part of Moscow’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022.

“A woman and a man were found under the rubble in Lviv. According to preliminary information, the woman was not injured. The man is in a serious condition,” Lviv’s region Governor Maxim Kozitsky said on the Telegram messaging app.

The scale of the attack and full extent of the damage was not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Lviv city mayor Andriy Sadovyi said air raid alerts for the region were called off after nearly three hours at around 0300 GMT.

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Ukraine denies market blast

The attack on Lviv came as the New York Times reported that a deadly explosion that killed at least 17 people earlier this month in a crowded market in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, was likely caused by a Ukrainian missile.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had blamed Russia for the incident, saying it was another example of Moscow’s aggression against his country.

However, the newspaper said it had obtained evidence that suggested the opposite.

(Read Also: Ukraine Eyes International Support Amid Ongoing Aggression)

“Evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system,” the newspaper reported.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine or Russia.

War rages on

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been raging for more than 19 months, with thousands of people killed and millions displaced.

Russia has annexed Crimea and occupied parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, while launching frequent attacks on Ukrainian territory far away from the front lines, targeting infrastructure vital to Kyiv’s defence, energy and agriculture.

Ukraine has been fighting back with the support of its Western allies, who have imposed sanctions on Russia and provided military aid to Kyiv.

(Read Also: Ukraine’s President Questions Russia’s UN Membership Ahead of UN Visit)

The conflict has escalated in recent weeks, with Ukraine claiming to have made significant gains near Bakhmut and Zaporizhzhia, while Russia has intensified its drone and missile strikes across Ukraine.

The war is expected to dominate the agenda of the UN General Assembly, where Zelenskiy is due to address world leaders on Tuesday and meet with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday.