One person has been injured after Russian missiles targeted Lviv airport, in western Ukraine, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Air raid sirens sounded across the city around 6 a.m. local time as a cloud of smoke billowed out from the direction of Lviv Danylo Halytskyi International Airport, which is located about six kilometres from the city centre.
A senior official in Lviv’s military later confirmed four missiles had struck an aircraft repair facility at the airport, while two other missiles had been struck down by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Maxim Kozitsky, head of Lviv Oblast’s military administration, said the rockets came from the direction of the Black Sea. The two that were intercepted were shot down near Lviv, he said.
One person was injured and had been taken to hospital in a moderate condition, he confirmed.
When asked if the injured person was a civilian or military, Kozitsky said: “There is no military infrastructure operating in the Lviv Oblast.”
A cloud of smoke raises after an explosion in Lviv, western Ukraine on March 18. The mayor of Lviv says missiles struck near the city’s airport early Friday.
AP
Shortly after the missile strike, the roads around the airport were cordoned off by military and checkpoints had been set up, preventing anyone from getting near it.
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But it didn’t appear to phase the people of Lviv, who walked by the area on their way to work without giving the huge cloud of smoke much more than a passing glance.
Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since the invasion began. However, before the war, Lviv’s airport was one of the busiest in the country – with more than 50 international routes across Europe.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi said, in a statement, that “active work at the facility was stopped in advance,” which is why there were no deaths. He did not elaborate as to when or why the work was stopped.
This is only the second major attack in the Lviv region since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24. The west, and specifically Lviv, has become a hub for millions of people fleeing the war in other parts of the country.
The first major strike took place on March 13, when Russian missiles targeted Yavoriv military base, near the Polish border and about 50 kilometres from Lviv. Russia fired around 30 cruise missiles at the base, which killed 35 people.
On Friday, Kozitsky condemned the attack on the “humanitarian hub” that Lviv had become, saying that displaced people seeking refuge were still recovering from shelling in other parts of the country.
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He said the area, with its close proximity to the Polish border, was important because it’s “the way we are receiving humanitarian help.”
“The enemy is not fighting the Ukrainian army, they are shelling civilians, kids, women and displaced people,” he said.
Smoke is seen above buildings close to the airport on March 18 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Getty Images
Kozitsky said the military would not be providing pictures or videos of the attack and urged locals not to share unverified footage or comments about it.
When asked if the military knew the attack was coming, Kozitsky said: “We are now in the stages of war (where) it can be Lviv, or Kharkiv or Mairupol – the enemy could shell anyone at any moment. Our main goal is to be prepared for any scenario.”
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