The western city of Lviv in Ukraine was hit by five powerful missile strikes on Monday morning, killing six civilians as heavy smoke billowed through the air, reported the media outlet The Kyiv Independent. According to Lviv Mayor, Andriy Sadovy, the Russian military fired five missiles at Lviv on the morning of 18 April. The damages are still being clarified. The count of the injured remains at eight whereas the death toll continues to rise. The residents of the Lviv region are asked to remain in shelters as air raid warning is still in place, reported the local media.
The city of Lviv received the largest number of refugees in Ukraine when Russia first invaded the country. Many people from Kharkiv, Kyiv, Kherson and other places came to the city with their families to save their lives.
Meanwhile, the Russian forces have eliminated more than 470 Ukrainian drones since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. “In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 136 aircraft, 471 unmanned aerial vehicles, 249 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,308 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 254 multiple launch rocket systems, 998 field artillery guns and mortars, and 2,171 special military vehicles,” Konashenkov said on Sunday. He added that Russian rocket forces and artillery have hit four Ukrainian command posts, four artillery batteries, two fuel depots and more than 100 other Ukrainian targets.
Another report said two UK citizens captured by Russian forces during the war in Ukraine, have turned to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a request to facilitate their exchange for detained Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk who is regarded as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main ally. Shaun Pinner, one of those captured, said on the Russian state media that he and Aiden Aslin, the second captured, would like to be exchanged for Medvedchuk, Sputnik reported. They added that they would be grateful for Johnson’s help in this matter. Pinner noted that he is treated well and understands what position he is in. Aslin added he considers it important that Johnson heed the call of Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana Marchenko, to exchange them for her husband.