In rare daytime drone blitz, Russia strikes Ukraine’s westernmost war-torn city
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The eyes of the world are focused on the US-Israel war against Iran, but as President Donald Trump dominated the world’s news channels on Tuesday with his confusing description of how the US was negotiating with Iran to end the conflict, Russia was detonating Ukraine with the largest bomb of the war to date.
In normal times, an attack by Russia’s nearly 1,000 drones – many made of Iranian parts and designs – would dominate the news agenda. But these are not ordinary times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as “completely depraved.” At least six people died and several others were injured.
The targets were in western Ukraine, including settlements and a maternity hospital in Ivano-Frankisk.
Ukrainian officials confirmed that Moscow shot down about 400 long-range drones and 23 cruise missiles overnight and 556 drones during daylight hours.
Although Russia’s use of large numbers of drones is not new, the intensity of the attack is notable.
Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is close to the Russian border and has seen frequent heavy attacks during the four years of the war. Residents are often forced to spend the night in metro stations that double as bomb shelters.
But people in the western city of Lviv never saw the drone strikes during the afternoon rush hour – until Tuesday.
An attack on a heritage site
Photos shared by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko captured the approaching sound of a Shahed helicopter flying at high speed as it crashed into residential buildings near the UNESCO World Heritage site as residents walk the streets of the historic old town in Lviv.
The flames were seen licking the sides of the St. Andrew’s and the 17th-century Bernadine monastery, which was given its World Heritage status in 1998. At least seven people were injured and the building was reportedly badly damaged.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha believes that the destruction of Ukrainian culture is “not dangerous.” Referring to the drone attacks, Sybiha posted on X that “Russia is doing exactly what the Iranian regime is doing in the Middle East, but in the middle of Europe.”
Construction experts are waiting to assess the damage in Lviv. On Wednesday, smoke could still be seen from the historic building as firefighters continued to put out the fire.
The scale of Tuesday’s attack “strongly shows that Russia has no intention of ending this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on Tuesday in X.
The last three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US took place in February, before the US and Israel began bombing Iran. Little progress has been made.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin said it was still in contact with the US and that it had been briefed on the latest talks with Kyiv.
Looking for more defensive weapons
Ukraine is still concerned that the world’s attention is being diverted from the war. The so-called coalition of the willing, which includes Canada, continues to promote peace in Ukraine, and Zelenskyy recently visited a number of European leaders to drum up continued support.
Kyiv has financial worries and the conflict in the Middle East appears to be pulling air defense weapons that Ukraine wants to buy from the US.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which analyzes movements on the battlefield, suggests that Russia has begun its spring offensive on Donetsk in the east.
Due to the Lviv drone attack, Ukraine will be motivated to collect weapons for defense. But the state budget for 2026 faces a deficit of $42 billion.
Zelenskyy hopes to secure a promised multibillion-dollar loan from the EU, but for now, Hungarian President Viktor Orban, who is a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, refuses to sign.
In the meantime, Ukraine has been relying on its own ingenuity to continue the fight, rapidly ramping up drone production. We have made an agreement to open production sites in Germany, Denmark and the UK
On Wednesday, it was reported that Ukrainian drones hit an oil export facility in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, about a thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The extent of the damage is still being assessed.
