9 Dead After Russian Missile Strike on Lviv

A Russian missile attack on Lviv in the early hours of Thursday, June 6, has killed at least 9 Ukrainian civilians and injured some 40 others.

Lviv's Mayor Andri Sadovy has called the situation the “biggest attack on civilian infrastructure to have hit the western Ukrainian city since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion".

At approximately 3 a.m. today, air raid sirens sounded in the western Ukrainian city to signal an aerial assault. This was soon followed by the explosive sounds of Ukrainian anti-missile and air defense systems in action.

A Russian missile fell on a multi-story apartment building, causing the destruction of part of its third and fourth floors, as well as fire.

Striysky Street on the southern side of the historic city has been closed by local authorities as rescue work continues at the site.

Apartment building in Lviv hit by falling debris from Russian missile.

Mayor Sadovy first reported the death of three civilians who were brought out from under rubble by first-responders. Later at 7:30 a.m., Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed a fourth fatality.

“Three people have been killed,” he said in a post on his Telegram channel shortly after the attack. Sadovy said the local street would remain closed until emergency workers “clear debris and pull out all the dead.”

Of the eight initially injured people, at least one is reported to be in a critical condition. Some 30 more injured have been recorded since morning.

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Emergency service workers carry victim from apartment building hit by debris from Russian missile.

Sadovy also said that around 50 apartments and 60 automobiles were destroyed by the falling debris and fire, as was an unspecified “object of critical infrastructure”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted his condolences to the families of the attack’s victims and vowed vengeance.

He further called the attack the act of “terrorists.”

“There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A strong one,” Zelensky said.

Lviv is only about 70 kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Poland.

Since Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, it has been a key center for accepting and supporting internally displaced persons from other parts of Ukraine, as well as a hub for humanitarian projects.

At the scene, seven people have been saved from beneath rubble by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and 64 people have been evacuated. More people are believed to be trapped.

Rescuers continue their work as of 8 a.m. including psychological counsellors who are supporting those impacted.