Explosions heard in Lviv, possible attack on military training center
Explosions were heard in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv during the night from Monday to Tuesday. This is reported by Reuters news agency and news hour-reporter Gert-Jan Dennekamp, who is on site. Eyewitnesses heard eight to ten explosions. A military training center may have been hit.
City Mayor Andriy Sadovyi confirmed the explosions and called on citizens to stay in air raid shelters. “It has not been confirmed that missiles hit the city,” he added later. “Our thanks go to those who defend our skies,” said the mayor, without elaborating on whether the explosions were anti-aircraft guns. More details will be released Tuesday morning, Sadovyi said.
AndriySadovyic адовий #Lviv
Missiles hitting the city are not confirmed.
Let’s thank for this those who protect our sky!
We will give more accurate information in the morning. Take care of yourself, and don’t ignore air raid alarms!
A team from the AP news agency said it saw an orange glow in the sky. According to a regional military director, the Russian armed forces fired projectiles at a military training center in nearby Javoriv, just 15 kilometers from the Polish border. An anonymous American defense officer also spoke of an attack on Javoriv, in which a few buildings would have been damaged. The missiles were fired from the Black Sea, presumably from a submarine.
In March, the training center was also hit by a Russian missile attack. Then dozens of people died. The area includes a training ground where Western units with Ukrainian have trained in various military operations.
Also read: How was the attack on the Ukrainian army base Javoriv carried out?
Ukraine: 260 soldiers evacuated from Azov stable factory
More than 260 Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. This was announced by a Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Maljar in the night from Monday to Tuesday in a statement on social media. The evacuation is part of an “exchange procedure” with Russia, although Maljar did not disclose the details.
Some 53 seriously injured soldiers have been transferred to the hospital in Russian-owned Novoazovsk. The other 211 soldiers were transported to Olenivka via a humanitarian corridor. It is unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers are still entrenched in the complex early Tuesday morning. With the Ukrainian military leaving, the armed forces appear to relinquish control of the city to Russia after 82 days.
Last week, Ukrainian authorities announced that more than 600 soldiers were still in and around the factory. Ukraine is also trying to evacuate those who remain. “This day is aimed at saving our country and our people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message about Azovstal. “I want to emphasize that Ukraine needs its heroes alive.” Zelensky acknowledged that getting all evacuees home is a “delicate” and time-consuming operation.
Russian forces have been besieging the port city of Mariupol since the start of the invasion on February 24. The city is located in the southeast of the country, where heavy bombings have been carried out. The Azovstal factory became a symbol of resistance for the Ukrainians. The Ukrainian army command commends the soldiers for their commitment to the mission; their resistance to the Russians allowed the Ukrainians to regroup and build up reserves elsewhere in the country.
Also read: Freed from the Azovstal factory: ‘No sun for two months, no color seen’
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