Rockets attack hit Lviv in western Ukraine as Biden visit to Poland

March 27, 2022

Rockets attack hit Lviv in western Ukraine as Biden visit to Poland

Five people were injured when two rockets hit a fuel depot and two others later collided with a military factory in the western city.

Four Russian rockets have struck Lviv, Ukraine, in one of the fiercest attacks on a western city that has provided safe haven for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war in the country’s east.

Governor Maxim Kozitsky said two rockets hit a fuel depot on the city’s eastern outskirts mid-afternoon on Saturday, wounding five people and two rockets later hitting a military factory.

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He said he had previously visited the scene of the attacks and that the situation was “under control”, but called on residents to seek refuge.

City journalists reported seeing thick plumes of smoke after the raid.

Mayor Andrey Sadovy said the attacks caused “significant damage” to infrastructure, including the windows of a local school.

But “residential buildings were not damaged”, he wrote on Twitter, without sharing details of the location.

The mayor said the attacks were a “greeting” from a “Russian aggressor” to US President Joe Biden, who was visiting the Polish capital, Warsaw, to reassure Ukraine of Washington’s unwavering support.

There was no immediate comment on the Lviv attacks from Russian officials, who referred to the attack as a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine.

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Lviv, about 60 km (37 mi) from the Polish border, had so far survived the bombings and fighting that devastated some Ukrainian cities close to Russia.

The city had a population of about 717,000, but has become a transit hub for thousands of families fleeing the worst fighting in eastern, southern and central Ukraine and those fleeing the country.

Despite more than four weeks of fighting, Russia has so far failed to seize any major Ukrainian cities. According to the United Nations, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, about 3.8 million have been sent abroad and more than half of Ukraine’s children have been evicted from their homes.

Moscow indicated on Friday that it was reducing its military ambitions to focus on an area formerly claimed by Russian-backed separatists before launching an attack on the outskirts of Lviv.

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Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, said the attacks showed Russia wanted to intimidate Ukraine and foreign diplomats, who have moved their embassies to Lviv for perceived relative security compared to the capital Kyiv.

“Ukraine certainly should not be intimidated by such crimes of the Russians, and I want to say once again to our Western allies – close the sky, show strength,” he said on Telegram.

It referred to Ukraine’s repeated requests for a no-fly zone, which has been rejected by NATO over fears that it could lead to direct conflict with Russian forces and lead to wider escalation in Europe.

In Warsaw, Biden called his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a “butcher” on the war in Ukraine.

“We need clear eyes. This fight will not be won in days or months,” he said after meeting with Ukrainian refugees. “We need to strengthen ourselves for the long battle ahead.”

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He also held his first one-on-one meeting with Ukraine’s top officials since the start of the war.

Rockets attack hit Lviv in western Ukraine as Biden visit to Poland

The meeting, held in Warsaw, was Biden’s final stop on a trip to Europe aimed at underlining his opposition to the Russian invasion, his solidarity with Ukraine and his determination to work closely with Western allies in the face of the crisis.

Following the meetings, the US, which has pledged billions in aid, announced an additional $100m in field gear and civil defense assistance for Ukraine’s border guard and police.