Russian air attack kills seven in Ukraine's Lviv

AFP

An overnight Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's western city of Lviv, close to the border with NATO member Poland, killed seven people, including three children, local officials said.

The strikes, which also damaged historic buildings in the heart of the city, came a day after the war's deadliest single attack this year, when Russia hit a military institute with two ballistic missiles, killing 50 and wounding hundreds more.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said allies could help stop the "terror" by providing more air defences, and he repeated calls for partners to allow the use of long-range Western weapons deeper into Russian territory.

"Everyone who persuades partners to give Ukraine more long-range capability to respond to terror fairly is working to prevent exactly these kinds of Russian terrorist strikes on Ukrainian cities," Zelenskiy said.

Russia, which has yet to comment on the strikes on Lviv or on Tuesday's attack on Poltava, said on Wednesday Moscow would deliver an "extremely painful" response in the event of long-range strikes on Russian territory by Ukraine.

Ukraine's air force said it had shot down seven out of 13 missiles and 22 out of 29 drones across the country during Russia's latest attack.

Among those killed in Lviv were a nine-year-old and a 14-year-old, regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said on the Telegram messaging app. Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack had injured around 40 people.

Lviv city mayor Andriy Sadovyi told national television that more than 70 structures, including schools, homes and clinics, had been damaged.

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