06 July 2023 , 05:49
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At least four people have died and nine others wounded after a Russian missile attack on an apartment block in Ukraine.
Around 60 apartments and 50 cars were damaged in the strike in the western city of Lviv on Thursday, said mayor Andriy Sadovyi.
Rescue workers continue to search through the debris for more people trapped.
Photos show casualties on stretchers, as the building crumbles.
Sadovyi addressed residents in a video message, saying the attack was the largest on Lviv's civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion last year.
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“Windows got blown out, many cars got damaged, around 50 cars... there may be more people under the rubble,” he said on Telegram.
Earlier, he warned that “several” missiles were “moving in the direction of the western regions,” citing Ukraine’s Air Forces Command.
At least four people have died in the attack (AP)He earlier said on Telegram that a “series of explosions” had been heard and warned residents to stay in shelters.
Regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyi posted a 13-second video showing a wide, curving, four-storey apartment building with parts of the upper floors missing or in rubble.
He described the attack as a “direct hit to a residential building”.
“As of now, the rubble is being dismantled. Of course, there will be injured and dead," he said.
Around 60 homes have been destroyed (AP)“We are doing everything possible to... save people.”
Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said this morning the number of victims may increase.
President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on the messaging app Telegram, saying: "Unfortunately, there are wounded and dead. My condolences to the relatives!
"There will definitely be a response to the enemy. A tangible one."
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Footage shows the top floors of the building having fallen away (MAKSYM KOZYTSKYI/TELEGRAM)Mr Zelensky also posted drone footage showing wrecked buildings from above. Third and fourth floors of the struck building were ruined.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian war refugees have sought safety in Lviv from other areas to the east.
On 20 June, Lviv was hit by a major Russian drone assault on Kyiv and other cities.
The attack comes after President Zelensky warned slow weapons deliveries to Ukraine delayed Kyiv's planned counteroffensive, allowing Russia to bolster its defences in occupied areas.
President Volodymyr Zelensky delivers his nightly address to the nation (Zuma Press/PA Images)Speaking via a translator in a televised pre-taped interview in Odesa, the President said he had hoped to begin the counteroffensive against Russia “much earlier” than its actual start in early June.
“Our slowed-down counteroffensive is happening due to certain difficulties in the battlefield. Everything is heavily mined there,” Zelensky said.
“I wanted our counteroffensive happening much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive will be unfolding later, then much bigger part of our territory will be mined.”
Ukrainian servicemen of the 3rd Assault Brigade fire a 122mm mortar towards Russian positions (AP)Zelensky also said he had told US and European leaders ahead of the counteroffensive that a lack of supplies would result in more casualties.
“I’m grateful to the US as the leaders of our support, but I told them as well as European leaders that we would like to start our counteroffensive earlier, and we will need all the weapons and material for that,” he said.
“Why? Simply because if we start later, it will go slower, and we will have losses of lives, because everything is heavily mined - we will have to go through it all.”