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Early on Sunday, the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, often considered as one of the safest locations in the country, suffered among its most sustained strikes since the start of Russia's full-scale military campaign.

For five hours, Russian Iranian-designed drones and missiles targeted the city, situated about 70km from the border with Poland. Significant blasts were audible from the city center, a Unesco world heritage site.

Victims and Destruction Throughout the Country

Nationwide, at least five individuals lost their lives – four individuals in the region of Lviv and another in the Zaporizhzhia city. In addition, 14 individuals were injured. Included among the casualties was a teenage girl, who died along with three other relatives when their home was hit.

Part of Lviv was experienced power outages, according to the mayor. Major blazes erupted in various locations, including a civilian industrial park in the southern part of the city.

While the pungent odor of burning and fumes engulfed the city, the regional governor advised inhabitants to close their windows and refrain from going outside or to use gas masks or breathing apparatus.

Regional Responses and Defense Actions

Polish military aviation stated it deployed fighter aircraft and took preventive action to secure its territorial skies following a previous incursion by deceptive unmanned vehicles. There were also numerous drone sightings in recent days in European Union nations such as Denmark and Germany.

• More than 50 missiles and approximately five hundred unmanned assault vehicles were involved in the attack.
• Weaponry included cruise missiles, Shahed-type drones and high-speed ballistic rockets.
• Multiple regions were impacted, including Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Odesa, Kherson area, Sumy region, Kharkiv oblast and Chernihiv territory.

Appeal for International Support

Ukrainian leadership called on allies to help boost air defense systems and to establish a restricted airspace – a measure that has so far been met with reluctance.

"An independent cessation of hostilities in the air is attainable – and it is exactly this which could open the way to genuine negotiations. America and Europe must act to compel Putin stop," the message emphasized.

Over the past few days, Russia has targeted the nation's power facilities, causing power blackouts in several regions, a strategy repeated in the approach to colder months for the previous three winters. At the same time, Ukrainian forces has been target oil production facilities deep inside Russia with its own long-range drones.

Community Consequences

The city was in the midst of the yearly Lviv literary festival, with writers and attendees assembled in the city for one of the largest literary events in the region.

In addition to Ukrainian writers, such as poets Artur Dron and Julia Musakovska, there were international speakers including UK-based Forward prizewinning author Fiona Benson, and, joining by video link, the Booker prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo, and the Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk.

By Sunday morning, ash was continuing to descend on the streets of the city, as fatigued locals ventured out and attended religious gatherings. The damaged wreckage of a unmanned aircraft lay on a pavement outside a apartment building, marked off with red tape.