At least seven people were killed in Russian airstrikes on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday, according to the regional governor. Maksym Kozytsky said four Russian attacks had targeted military infrastructure, but a car tire factory had also been hit. Lviv, located near Ukraine’s border with Poland, is considered a relatively safe place for those fleeing fierce fighting in other parts of the country.
“What happened today is very worrying and alarming because this is a very powerful missile attack [on] civilian infrastructure,” Yuri Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told CBS News’ partner network BBC News. “What happened today proves once again that the overall build-up of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine remains at risk .”
Smoke is seen on the horizon after Russian missiles struck the area April 18, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images
Russian state media claimed Russia had attacked 315 targets in Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian officials in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region also reported multiple rocket attacks on Monday and said some projectiles hit areas near a train station. Strikes also increased near the capital Kyiv.
Meanwhile, new images emerged that appeared to show Russia’s Moskva warship beginning to sink with smoke billowing from behind after allegedly being hit by Ukrainian missiles.
Fighting in Mariupol rages on
After weeks of relentless onslaught, Ukraine’s prime minister said his forces would continue to take up positions in the coastal city of Mariupol, despite renewed threats from Russia that any remaining Ukrainian soldiers would be “eliminated”. In a sprawling steel mill and a series of tunnels below, a group of Ukrainian troops held out, defying Russia’s ultimatum to surrender or die.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CBS News’ Face the Nation that Russia would level the city at any cost.
“The situation in Mariupol is both militarily dire and heartbreaking. The city no longer exists,” said Kuleba.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Monday that Ukraine has lost 23,367 soldiers in the war so far. NATO estimates that up to 45,000 Russian soldiers have been killed, captured or injured since the invasion began.
holy week
Amid suffering and fear, believers in Ukraine gathered over the weekend to mark the beginning of Holy Week. Easter will be celebrated next Sunday.
In Vinnytsia, southwest of the capital, Protodeacon Vladyslav prayed for the lives of the injured and the souls of the dead.
“When people go through all this sadness and atrocity and still hope, still believe, still say they feel the hand of God guiding them, that belief becomes their reality,” Vladyslav said.
Mariupol lies in ruins but Prime Minister of Ukraine says his forces will continue to stand 03:40
But the war has also turned the church into a battlefield after Russian Orthodox leaders gave their blessings to the war and President Putin. Vladyslaw said this made the Russian Orthodox Church “an accomplice”.
“This is a position no church should ever take. Russia started this war not to defend its territory, but to attack our country’s territory,” he said.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that a child was killed in the rocket attacks on Lviv. The child was injured in the strikes.
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