A Russian airstrike on Lviv, a western Ukrainian city near the border with NATO member Poland, resulted in the deaths of three people, over 30 injuries, and the destruction of historic buildings, according to regional officials on Wednesday. This attack followed the year's deadliest single strike, where Russia hit a military institute in Poltava, a central Ukrainian town, with two ballistic missiles, killing 50 people and injuring hundreds more.

Among those killed in Lviv during the drone and missile attack was a 14-year-old girl, with five children among the injured, as reported by the regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi on Telegram. Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of Lviv, confirmed the deaths of a midwife nurse and a man, adding that 35 people were receiving medical treatment. In a video posted on Telegram, the mayor stood among the debris of a destroyed building, noting that more than 50 structures, including schools, homes, and clinics, primarily in the city's heart, were damaged. A Reuters witness in Lviv also reported damage to buildings.

In response, Poland scrambled aircraft for the third time in eight days to safeguard its airspace, as stated by the armed forces' operational command. The command noted on X that this was "another very busy night for the entire air defence system in Poland due to ... the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation carrying out strikes."

On Wednesday, Russia also launched missile attacks on Kyiv and several other regions, although no immediate damage was reported. Over the past 10 days, Russia has intensified its bombardment of Ukraine with hundreds of missiles and drones, which some Russian military bloggers suggest is Moscow's response to Kyiv's recent incursion into Russian territory. Russia has not yet commented on the Poltava attack or Wednesday's strikes on Lviv and Kyiv, though it has previously stated that its strikes target Ukraine's military, energy, and transport infrastructure, not civilians.