Five “powerful” Russian missile strikes hit Lviv on Monday morning, April 18, a large city in western Ukraine usually relatively spared from the fighting, announced its mayor and an adviser to the presidency. The provisional toll is at least six dead and eight injured.
Located far from the front, Lviv and western Ukraine have rarely been targeted by bombardments since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24. On March 26, Lviv suffered a series of Russian strikes, two of which hit a fuel depot and injured five, according to local authorities.
- Five “powerful” missile strikes on Lviv
Monday morning, Lviv – 720,000 inhabitants – was hit by five “powerful” Russian missile strikes. This was announced by the mayor and an adviser to the presidency. A resident of southwest Lviv told AFP he saw thick plumes of gray smoke rising into the sky behind apartment buildings. “Five powerful missile strikes at once on the civilian infrastructure of the old European city of Lviv”, for his part announced on Twitter Mikhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
These strikes have “seriously damaged” military infrastructure, announced the regional governor. “At this time, we have identified six dead and eight wounded. There is a child among the victims,” Maksym Kozitsky said on Telegram, adding that the strikes had hit military infrastructure and a tire garage, causing fires.
For their part, the Ukrainian railways indicated on Telegram that “several missiles fell near the railway installations”, without causing any victims and without hindering traffic. “We will repair our damaged infrastructure. The railway continues to operate,” said the chairman of the board of directors of the company, Alexandre Kamychine, publishing the photo of burning houses directly near a railway line.
- Paintings on loan from Russia blocked in Seoul due to sanctions
Dozens of works by Russian painters – including Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko – which were exhibited in Seoul, are blocked in South Korea due to the suspension of flights imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, organizers announced on Monday. These paintings by around fifty Russian artists had been on display since December 2022 at the Sejong Art Museum in Seoul.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, many Western countries, notably the United States and the European Union adopted unprecedented sanctions against Moscow. The exhibition in Seoul ended on Sunday April 17 but the paintings are blocked in the South Korean capital due to the lack of flight options, an organizer told AFP.
- The Russians want to “destroy the Donbass” accuses kyiv, which claims to defend it “to the end”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Sunday of wanting to “destroy” the entire eastern region of Donbass, promising that everything would be done to defend it, starting with the strategic port of Mariupol where the surrounded soldiers are called upon to fight “until at the end”.
“Russian soldiers are preparing for an offensive in the east of our country in the near future. They literally want to complete and destroy the Donbass”, underlined the Ukrainian head of state in a video message. “Just as the Russian military is destroying Mariupol, they want to destroy other cities and other communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, he continued, before launching: “We are doing everything to ensure the defense “.
“Sabotage the occupiers’ orders. Do not cooperate with them (…) You must stand your ground,” he said, adding to Westerners that “the need for an embargo on the delivery of oil from Russia is needed every day”.
In the East, the Russian Defense Ministry assured Sunday that “high-precision missiles had destroyed fuel and ammunition warehouses” in Barvinkove (Izium region) and Dobropillia (not far from Donetsk).