Four Russian missiles have hit Ukraine’s Lviv in one of the fiercest attacks on the western city, providing a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war in the east of the country.
Governor Maksym Kozytsky said two rockets hit a fuel depot on the eastern outskirts of the city on Saturday afternoon, injuring five people, and two rockets later hit a military factory.
He added that he had visited the site of the first attacks and that the situation was “under control” but urged residents to take shelter.
Journalists in the city reported seeing thick plumes of black smoke following the raids.
Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said the attacks caused “significant damage” to infrastructure, including blowing out windows at a local school.
But “residential buildings were not damaged,” he wrote on Twitter, without giving details of the location.
⚡️⚡️ As a result of the new rocket attacks on Lviv, significant damage was caused to infrastructure facilities. Residential buildings were not damaged.
The fires continue to be extinguished.The relevant services work on site.
— Андрій Садовий (@AndriySadovyi) March 26, 2022
The mayor said the attacks were “greetings” from the “Russian aggressor” to US President Joe Biden, who was visiting the Polish capital of Warsaw to pledge Washington’s unwavering support to Ukraine.
There was no immediate comment on the attacks in Lviv from Russian authorities, who have described the invasion as a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine.
Lviv, some 60 km (37 miles) from the Polish border, has so far escaped the bombing and fighting that has devastated some Ukrainian cities near Russia.
The city had a population of about 717,000 before the war, but has become a haven for thousands of families fleeing the worst of the fighting in eastern, southern and central Ukraine, and a transit hub for people fleeing the country.
Despite more than four weeks of fighting, Russia has so far failed to capture a major Ukrainian city. The conflict has killed thousands of people, sent nearly 3.8 million abroad and displaced more than half of Ukraine’s children from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Moscow signaled on Friday it would scale back its military ambitions to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists in the east before attacking the outskirts of Lviv.
Ukrainian Presidential Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak said the attacks showed that Russia wanted to intimidate Ukraine and foreign diplomats who have moved their embassies to Lviv because they find their embassies relatively safe compared to the capital Kyiv.
“Ukraine should definitely not be intimidated by such crimes by the Russians, and I would like to say again to my Western partners – close the skies, show strength,” he said on Telegram.
This was in reference to Ukraine’s repeated call for a no-fly zone, which NATO has rejected over fears of direct clashes with Russian forces and a Europe-wide escalation.
In Warsaw, Biden castigated his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, calling him a “butcher”.
“We must have clear eyes. This battle will not be won in days or months,” he said after meeting Ukrainian refugees. “We must brace ourselves for a long battle.”
He also held his first face-to-face meeting with senior Ukrainian officials since the beginning of the war.
The Warsaw meeting was Biden’s final stop on a trip to Europe aimed at underscoring his opposition to the Russian invasion, his solidarity with Ukraine and his determination to work closely with Western allies to resolve the crisis.
After the meetings, the US, which has pledged billions in aid, announced an additional $100 million in field equipment and civilian security assistance for Ukraine’s border guards and police.