The mayor of Lviv has accused the Kremlin of genocide after four Russian rockets smashed a western Ukrainian city on Monday, killing seven people and wounding at least 11.
Andriy Sadovi said there were no “safe” or “unsafe” zones left in Ukraine. “What we see today is genocide. This is a deliberate act by the aggressor to kill civilians, “he said, adding:” All our towns and villages are in the same situation. “
Russia launched a series of deadly long-range airstrikes early Monday against what it claims are military targets. The attacks come amid expectations of a major Moscow offensive in the coming days in the eastern and industrial region of Donbass.
Sadovi said one of the rockets hit a garage and a tire repair shop in Lviv, killing four people. Others were injured, including a child, and two adults were seriously injured. The windows nearby have been blown out, including at a school, he said.
Vladimir Zelensky: Russia wants to “destroy” the Ukrainian region of Donbass – video
Maxim Kozitsky, head of Lviv’s regional military administration, said the strikes were part of a “cynical and inhuman” model of the Russian government and its military.
They were trying to intimidate Ukraine by persecuting civilians, the mayor said, adding: “Look at what is happening in Mariupol. Thousands of innocent people were killed. What we saw in Bucha and Hostomel is terrible. “
Russian opposition politician Ivan Zhdanov said the bombing in Lviv made no military sense. He said the Caliber rocket, fired from thousands of kilometers, cost $ 6.5 million (£ 5 million) and crashed into a tire shop. “What’s the logic here?” Are they complete idiots? ”He tweeted.
I do not understand. Please explain. The price of one “caliber” is 6.5 million dollars. They run it a thousand kilometers to fix the installation of tires in Lviv? What is the logic here? Are they absolutely stupid? pic.twitter.com/mKDCOGpcFx
– Ivan Zhdanov (@ioannZH) April 18, 2022
Russia has previously bombed more plausible targets in and around Lviv, including a tank repair factory and a military base. The UNESCO-listed city, known for its Baroque and neoclassical architecture, has been largely spared the Syrian-style destruction suffered by Mariupol, Kharkiv and cities on the Donbass front line.
Lviv is the temporary home of several hundred thousand people displaced by fighting in other parts of Ukraine. It is also a logistics center for the supply of Western weapons sent through Poland. “We use all possible routes to supply weapons to our army,” Kozicki said.
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In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air-to-air missiles had destroyed Ukraine’s ammunition depots. He said it is aimed at areas across the country, including the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporozhye, as well as the districts of Donetsk and Dnepropetrovsk and the southern port of Nikolaev.
Sadovi, a one-time presidential candidate, said Vladimir Putin was determined to subjugate the whole of Ukraine. “We have to kick the enemy off our land,” he said. “They want to enslave us. We will fight to the last drop of blood, because we are Ukrainians.
He said the West must understand that the war in Ukraine transcends the fate of one country and is between a totalitarian and a democratic system. “We are defending everyone. Germany, Poland, Lithuania. We are taking the blow, but the same missile could fly to another country tomorrow.
He continued: “We have to be a fist. We must strike the enemy so hard that he cannot be an aggressor for the next 50 years.
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