Russia Attacks Lviv in West Ukraine: Rocket Strikes, Injuries, New Front of War

Neighbours try to extinguish the fire of a house, destroyed after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, 24 March.

(Photo: AP/PTI)

At least 5 people were injured as rocket strikes hit the city of Lviv in west Ukraine on Saturday, 26 March. Local authorities told residents to seek shelter in the wake of powerful blasts on the city's outskirts.

Regional Governor Maksym Kozytsky said in an online post, "There have been two rocket strikes within the limits of Lviv."

The Indian Express later reported that four Russian missiles struck just east of the city, with the first of the blasts making impact around 4.45 pm.

This was minutes after a public opera performance in front of the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre was cut short by air sirens.

According to Kozytsky, two critical infrastructure objects had been hit, including an oil storage facility and a defence facility, “both in residential areas” of the city. The missile strikes on Lviv are said to have marked the progression of the war into western Ukraine.

The last strike near Lviv had taken place eight days earlier, on March 18, when missiles had hit the airport just outside the city and targeted an aircraft repair plant. There had been no casualties at the time.

The attack on Saturday occurred just before US President Joe Biden delivered a speech in neighbouring Poland. In his address, Biden warned of a "long fight ahead."