: Russian Strikes Kill at Least 7 in Lviv, Ukrainian Officials Say #WorldNEWS LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched missile attacks on the western city of Lviv and pounded other targets

Russian Strikes Kill at Least 7 in Lviv, Ukrainian Officials Say #WorldNEWS
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched missile attacks on the western city of Lviv and pounded other targets across Ukraine on Monday in what appeared to be an intensified bid to wear down the country’s defenses ahead of an all-out assault on the east.
At least seven people were reported killed in Lviv, where plumes of thick black smoke rose over a city that has seen only sporadic attacks during almost two months of war and has become a haven for large numbers of civilians fleeing intense fighting elsewhere.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, meanwhile, vowed to “fight absolutely to the end” in strategically vital Mariupol, where the last known pocket of resistance in the seven-week siege consisted of Ukrainian fighters holed up in a sprawling steel plant. The holdouts ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=true]
The governor of the Lviv region, Maksym Kozytskyy, said the Russian missile strikes hit three military infrastructure facilities and an auto mechanic shop. He said the wounded included a child, and emergency teams battled fires caused by the attack.
Lviv is the biggest city and a major transportation hub in western Ukraine. It sits roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Poland, a NATO member. The city has been a major conduit for weapons and other supplies coming from NATO countries and for foreign fighters joining the Ukrainian cause.
Russia has strongly complained about the increasing flow of Western weapons to Ukraine, and last week its Foreign Ministry issued a formal note of protest to the U. S. and its allies. On Russian state media, some anchors have charged that the supplies amount to direct Western engagement in the fight against Russia.
Lviv has also been seen as a relatively safe place for the elderly, mothers and children trying to escape the war. But a hotel sheltering Ukrainians who had fled fighting in other parts of the country was among the buildings badly damaged, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
“The nightmare of war has caught up with us even in Lviv, said Lyudmila Turchak, who fled with two children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. There is no longer anywhere in Ukraine where we can feel safe. ”
A powerful explosion also rocked Vasylkiv, a town south of the capital of Kyiv that is home to a military airbase, according to residents. It was not immediately clear what was hit.
Military analysts say Russia is increasing its strikes on weapons factories, railways and other infrastructure targets across Ukraine to wear down the country’s ability to resist a major ground offensive in the Donbas, Ukraine’s mostly Russian-speaking eastern industrial heartland.

Latest stock market news Twitter alternate of India

10% popularity Flash it Bury this