Source: BBC

A Russian rocket has hit an apartment building in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, killing at least four people, Ukraine’s interior minister says.

Ihor Klymenko added another 32 people were injured in what the mayor of Lviv said was “one of the biggest attacks” on the city’s civilian infrastructure.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed a “tangible” response to the overnight assault by “Russian terrorists”.

Russia’s military has not commented on the reported attack.

Writing on Telegram, Mr Klymenko said at least seven people had been rescued from the apartment block, adding there were fears more people could be trapped under rubble.

Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said about 60 homes had been seriously damaged, and a number of building roofs had been blown away. A school and polytechnic university dormitories were also damaged, he said.

Dr Sasha Dovzhyk, who works at the Ukrainian Institute London but is currently in Lviv, described hiding in her bathroom when she heard the air raid siren.

“This is what we are supposed to do,” she told the BBC. “This is the Ukrainian routine.

“You are supposed to put two walls and preferably no windows, no glass, between yourself and the street, the outside.

“When the rocket, the missile, a Kalibr missile as we know now, hit the residential building 2km away the walls in the bathroom where I was hiding shook, so the impact was quite strong.”

Ukraine’s Air Force claimed Russia launched the missiles from the Black Sea.

Posting on Telegram, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said “seven out of ten Kalibr cruise missiles” were shot down, but said one rocket “changed course” to the west and hit Lviv.

The BBC has been unable to verify these claims.

For months, Russia has been carrying out deadly missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, often hitting civilian targets and causing widespread blackouts.

Last week 13 people were killed – including children – when a restaurant and shopping centre were struck in Kramatorsk, an eastern city close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.

Although Lviv is in western Ukraine, relatively far from the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine, it has also previously suffered Russian attacks.

Last month Lviv officials reported that critical infrastructure had been hit in the city in a drone attack.