Russia has launched an unusual daytime attack on Ukraine, hitting cities across the west of the country with over 400 drones on Tuesday afternoon.
Lviv regional head Maksym Kozytskyi reported that the Bernardine monastery, a 16th-Century UNESCO site, was damaged during the assaults. Videos released by Lviv authorities show a fire raging through the roof of a residential building adjacent to the monastery.
Alongside Lviv, three other western cities – Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, and Ternopil – were also targeted in this massive drone campaign.
In Ivano-Frankivsk, two individuals were killed, and several others, including a six-year-old child, sustained injuries. Various structures, including a maternity hospital, suffered damage during the relentless attack.
In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi confirmed that 13 residents were injured, and he warned that this number might increase as more information comes in.
This surge in strikes follows an overnight assault that resulted in at least five deaths, where a 61-year-old woman died when a drone hit an electric train in Kharkiv. Additional fatalities were recorded in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Poltava.
Despite years of conflict that has affected various regions, the western part of Ukraine has generally been spared the intensity of assaults seen closer to the Russian border.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat stated that the sheer volume of drones entering Ukrainian airspace from the north marked this day as one of the most extensive attacks in a 24-hour timeframe.
The damage to the historic Bertrandine monastery is a concerning reminder of the collateral damage to cultural heritage in ongoing conflicts, prompting fears for the preservation of such sites amid warfare.
