A drone strike launched by Russian forces targeted the center of Lviv on Tuesday, injuring at least 13 individuals, according to local authorities. The strike reportedly damaged a UNESCO heritage site, prompting officials to warn residents to seek shelter.
Maxim Kozitsky, the head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, confirmed the attack via Telegram, stating, “The enemy continues to attack the Lviv region. There has been a strike in the central part of Lviv. Preliminary reports indicate damage to a UNESCO heritage site. The threat remains high. Stay in shelters.”
City Mayor Andriy Sadovyi added that a residential building in central Lviv sustained damage from the strike. He later reported a second drone hit a residential building in the Sykhiv district on Chervonoi Kalyny Avenue, along with debris falling at a third site on Bandera Street.
Kozitsky noted that critical infrastructure was also affected in the Komarno and Dobrosyn-Maheryv communities. He clarified that reports of a fire on Brativ Rohatyntsiv Street in Lviv were unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, local Telegram channels reported fires in central Ivano-Frankivsk and a residential area in Ternopil due to drone attacks. The Ternopil Regional Military Administration confirmed explosions and urged residents to remain in shelters. In Ivano-Frankivsk, Mayor Ruslan Martyniv reported that air defense systems were operational.
Russian forces have been consistently targeting Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure using various weaponry, including strike drones, missiles, and multiple rocket launchers. Ukrainian authorities and international organizations categorize these attacks as war crimes, emphasizing their deliberate nature.
These assaults on essential services and healthcare facilities aim to deprive civilians of electricity, heating, water supply, communication, and medical assistance, which some legal experts argue could constitute genocidal actions. During the ongoing conflict, Russia has allegedly committed numerous crimes against Ukrainian citizens that could fall under the definition of genocide, according to legal scholars and human rights advocates.
The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN General Assembly, obligates member states to prevent and punish acts of genocide during both wartime and peacetime. The Convention defines genocide as actions intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Indicators of genocide include the killing of group members, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting living conditions aimed at destroying the group, preventing births within the group, and forcibly transferring children from one group to another.
The Russian leadership denies that its military intentionally targets civilian infrastructure, claiming that such accusations are unfounded.
A drone strike in Lviv resulted in multiple injuries and damage to a UNESCO heritage site. Local authorities report ongoing threats as Russian forces continue to target civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.