Russian forces launched a drone attack in broad daylight Tuesday on the center of Lviv, a historic city in western Ukraine that had been spared much of the fighting that has devastated other parts of the country.
More than a dozen people were reported injured, and the number of victims of the surprise attack was expected to rise, officials warned.
"There are already 13 injured people in hospitals in Lviv," Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted online. "The number of victims is increasing."
In his evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russians used Iranian-designed drones to attack Lviv and that one of them badly damaged the historic 17th century St. Andrew’s Church, which is a UNESCO heritage site.
"Iranian Shaheds, modernized by Russia, hit a church in Lviv — it's absolute perversion," Zelenskyy said.
The regional governor warned residents to stay off the streets.
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"The threat remains high," Maksym Kozytskyi posted online. "Stay in shelters!!!"
Prime Minister Yuliya Svyrydenko accused the Russians of deliberately going after civilians.
"Russia is attacking a crowded city centre in broad daylight," Svyrydenko posted.
Officials at the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the news.
With a population of more than 700,000, Lviv, just a little more than 40 miles from the Polish border, is the biggest city in western Ukraine.
It is also the hometown of the famed Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, who imagined drone warfare in his 1964 novel "The Invincible."
Lviv was one of nearly a dozen regions across Ukraine that were hit by one of Russia's biggest aerial barrages since the start of the war, with more than 930 drone strikes and 34 missile attacks on other cities and key infrastructure, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Among other things, apartment buildings were hit, civilian infrastructure was damaged and even a train was targeted, it said.
Dozens of people were injured, including children, it said. Several deaths were also reported.
"The scale of this attack is clear evidence that Russia has no intent to end this war," Zelenskyy said.
