INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia struck the city of Lviv in western Ukraine on Wednesday, killing seven people and damaging historical buildings in a rare attack
hundreds of kilometers from the frontline.The strike came as several Ukrainian ministers, including top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba, offered
their resignations, part of a major reshuffle President Volodymyr Zelensky said would bring "new energy" to the government.Russia has
stepped up its aerial attacks on Ukraine since Kyiv launched an unprecedented cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk region last
month."In total, seven people died in Lviv, including three children
The search and rescue operation is ongoing," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram.The missile attack also wounded 40 people,
damaging schools and medical facilities as well as buildings in Lviv's historic center, according to the office of Ukraine's prosecutor
general.The western city near the Polish border is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site that covers its old town
It has been largely spared the intense strikes that have rocked cities further east.But at least seven "architectural objects of local
importance were damaged" in Wednesday's barrage, regional head Maksym Kozytsky said.The assault on Lviv, which is sheltering thousands
displaced by over two years of war, came a day after a Russian strike on the central city of Poltava killed 53 people, one of the deadliest
single strikes of the invasion.The overnight attacks triggered renewed appeals from Ukraine for Western air defenses, as well as long-range
weapons to retaliate by striking targets deep inside Russia.'Inhuman screams'"I heard terrible inhuman screams saying 'Save us,'" said
Yelyzaveta, a 27-year-old resident of Lviv who rushed to shelter in her basement.Others like Anastasia Grynko, an internally displaced
person from Dnipro, did not have time to reach a shelter."The rocket hit our house
Everything was blown away
At the time of the explosion, I was somehow miraculously in the corridor, so I was not badly hurt," she said.Zelensky denounced what he
called "Russian terrorist strikes on Ukrainian cities."The attack on Lviv was part of a wider barrage on Ukraine, with 13 missiles and 29
drones launched at the war-torn country, the air force said.The air force said it downed seven missiles and 22 drones.Wreckage of a downed
missile fell on the central city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian emergency services said, damaging the Arena hotel and wounding five people."The
hotel is destroyed from the first to the third floor
Thank God, everyone is alive," the city's head Oleksandr Vilkul said.Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called for more air defense and
for long-range weapons to strike Russia in the wake of the attack.The weapons delivered by Ukraine's Western partners since the invasion
often come with restrictions prohibiting their use against most targets located inside Russia.The overnight attack took place the day after
the victims were military or civilians.Russia advancesRussia also said it was pressing on with its offensive in the country's east, claiming
the capture of the village of Karlivka, the latest in a string of territorial gains.Karlivka is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from
Pokrovsk, a major Russian target that lies on a key supply route for the Ukrainian army.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday his
army was making rapid advances in the Donbas that covers the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk."We have not had such a pace of
offensive in the Donbas for a long time," he said.Ukraine was also on Wednesday in the midst of a major government reshuffle, as Zelensky
seeks to boost confidence in the government two and a half years into Russia's invasion.Ukraine's wartime Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba
submitted his resignation on Wednesday, a day after six other officials including cabinet ministers said they were stepping down."We need
And these steps are related to strengthening our state in various areas," Zelensky told journalists when asked about the changes.Ukraine's
parliament approved some of the resignations in a session Wednesday, with Kuleba's expected to be voted on later in the week.A source close
to the presidential office told AFP that Zelensky and Kuleba "will discuss and decide" his future post.In a separate attack on Wednesday,
Ukrainian shelling killed three people in occupied east Ukraine, according to the Russian-installed Donetsk region governor Denis Pushilin.
