LVIV, Ukraine — At least three powerful explosions were heard on Saturday near the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
At least two missiles struck the city, which is located near the border of Poland. The attack came on the same day that President Joe Biden visited Poland and a few hours before he was to give what the White House called “a major speech” about the situation in eastern Europe.
Thick smoke and fire could be seen rising in the eastern part of Lviv in what is believed to be an oil storage facility, The New York Times reported.
“According to the mayor, he believes it is a Russian military strike on this facility,” CNN reported. “It is a fuel storage facility. ... There are some tanks here and they are filled with diesel and other kinds of fuel.”
According to Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of Lviv’s regional military administration, “There were three powerful explosions near Lviv from the Velyki Kryvchytsi side; now there is an air alarm, so keep calm and stay in shelter.”
“Information that hitting a residential building or other infrastructure facilities was not confirmed, Kozytskyy said in a statement reported by the Times. “According to preliminary data, five people were injured.”
“The Russian army struck at Lviv,” Andriy Sadovyi wrote on Twitter, according to CNN. “We are waiting for information from the Military Administration. Stay in the shelters.”
Other than a March 18 attack on a factory that repairs warplanes near Lviv’s airport, the city has not been targeted, the Times reported. Approximately 400,000 Ukrainian refugees are in the Lviv area, according to the newspaper.
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