Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

At least seven civilians were killed and 38 were wounded in Lviv in the early hours of Sept. 4 amid Russia’s attack against Ukraine, Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi and Mayor Andrii Sadovyi reported. Children were among the casualties.

Several explosions were heard in the city amid a nationwide air raid alert as Russia launched drones and missiles against the country. Multiple casualties were reported also in The Cross River.

Explosions were heard in other cities overnight, including Kyiv, Sumy, Lutsk, and Rivne.

The fatalities in Lviv included two girls aged 9 and 14, another child, a 50-year-old nurse at a local clinic, and a man, authorities said.

There are five children among the wounded, including a 10-year-old boy. Fifteen people were transferred to local hospitals after the attack, according to the mayor.

Several buildings near the central railway station caught fire following the strike. Some 50 overall buildings were reportedly damaged in the attack.

At least two schools will not re-open on Sept. 4, according to Sadovyi. First responders were dispatched to the site of the attack.

The Air Force warned earlier of the threat of drone and missile attacks across multiple regions of Ukraine, including Lviv Oblast.

Lviv, located approximately 540 kilometers (about 335 miles) west of Kyiv with a population of over 700,000, has been targeted several times by Russian drones and missiles during the war. The city is about 70 kilometers (approximately 43 miles) east of the Polish border.

The deadliest attack against the city so far took place in July 2023, when a Russian missile strike killed 10 people and injured 40.

Russian drones and missiles have previously entered Poland’s airspace during attacks on Ukraine. However, Poland’s allies advised the government to exercise restraint when dealing with unidentified airspace violations, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Poland and neighboring countries are “responsible for protecting their own airspace,” despite NATO’s opposition, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sept. 2.

“Everyone who convinces our partners to give Ukraine greater range to respond to this terror is helping to prevent Russian terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to Western partners to permit strikes deep inside Russia with Western-supplied arms, arguing it will help destroy Russian bombers before they can target Ukrainian cities.

Russia also launched a missile attack against the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast the same morning, injuring at least five civilians, Governor Serhii Lysak reported. The victims include women aged 62, 83, and 84, a 70-year-old man, and a 10-year-old girl. The child has been hospitalized, according to authorities.

A hotel, 10 high-rise buildings, four educational institutions, and four cars were damaged in the attack, according to local authorities.

Kryvyi Rih, with a population of around 660,000, is the second most populous city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, lying over 60 kilometers (under 40 miles) north of Russian-occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zelensky’s hometown has suffered multiple deadly attacks by Russian forces since the outbreak of the full-scale war.

A hotel in Kryvyi Rih was struck by a Russian missile on Aug. 26, leaving at least four people dead and five injured.

Overnight on Sept. 4, Russia reportedly fired 42 drones and missiles against Ukraine, including two Kh-47 Kinzhal missiles launched from MiG-31K aircraft, two Kh-22 cruise missiles launched from Tu-22M3 bomber planes, six Kh-101 cruise missiles fired from Tu- 95MS bomber planes, three Iskander-K cruise missiles, and 29 Shahed-type “kamikaze” drones.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 22 drones, four Kh-101 missiles, and three Iskander-K missiles, the Air Force said. Six drones were lost, likely as a result of electronic warfare means, and one flew to Belarus, according to the statement.

Air defense was active in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Volyn, Ternopil, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Poltava, and Sumy oblasts.

Read also: Most Poles believe Poland should down Russian drones over Polish airspace, survey shows

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