Lviv, Ukraine, March 26 – The mayor of Lviv said another missile hit the western Ukraine city on Saturday, shortly after two missiles hit its outskirts in what appeared to be the first attacks within the city limits since the start of the war with Russia .
Lviv, about 60 kilometers from the Polish border, has so far escaped the bombing and fighting that has devastated some Ukrainian cities closer to Russia since Moscow began its invasion on February 24.
But on Saturday Gov. Maksym Kozytskyy said two rockets hit the eastern outskirts of the city in the afternoon, ordering residents to take shelter.
Later Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said there had been another strike. “Another missile attack on Lviv,” he said in an online post.
He did not share details of the location. He said the strike damaged infrastructure but not residential buildings.
The first strikes set fire to an industrial facility storing fuel but had not hit residential areas, Sadoviy said earlier.
Governor Kozytskyy, citing preliminary figures, said five people were injured in the attack.
“Stay in shelters! Don’t take to the streets!” he warned.
Reuters witnesses in central Lviv saw heavy black smoke billowing from the northeast side of the city and a strong smell of burning filled the air.
Men crowded the street to watch a plume of smoke rise from behind a block of flats. Most residents appeared to stay indoors, peering out from behind curtains while others hurried by on the street with their bags.
Lviv had a population of about 717,000 before the war, but for thousands of families fleeing the worst of the fighting in eastern, southern and central Ukraine, it is either a haven within the country or a transit hub for people leaving the country . Continue reading
Reporting by Natalia Zinets, Mari Saito and Silvia Aloisi Writing by Alessandra Prentice Editing by Stephen Farrell and Ros Russell