Missile strikes near safe Haven Lviv as Mariupol Emerging Survivor Bomb Theater

About 130 of more than 1,000 people sheltering at a theater in the strategic city of Mariupol when it was attacked by Russian troops on Wednesday have been pulled from the rubble, Ukrainian officials said.

But even as news of such a miraculous survival continues to demonstrate the strength of the Ukrainian people, horror stories still dim hope. Reports from the port city that feral dogs that often eat garbage and other scraps now graze on corpses left on the streets speak volumes for a city under constant shelling.

No one knows for sure how many people in Mariupol have been killed to date, and since many bodies are being rolled into mass graves, the true death toll will likely never be counted.

Meanwhile, Russia launched at least six missiles towards the city of Lviv, a former relatively safe haven, near the Polish border early Friday morning. The Ukrainian armed forces said in a Facebook post that cruise missiles had been deployed from warplanes over the Black Sea and marked the first time the city had come under such direct attack. Two of the missiles were intercepted by Western-supplied air defense systems.

Other missiles destroyed an aircraft repair factory near Danylo Halytskyi international airport to the west of the city, where millions of Ukrainians have been displaced in search of relative safety. No casualties were reported, but multiple Western news agencies broadcasting from the city said they heard bombs and sirens of the air raid around 6:30 a.m.

It is not yet clear whether that will lead to another exodus of refugees towards Poland about 50 miles away. “The missile hit the area near the Lviv airport. I can’t say the location at the moment, but it’s definitely not the airport,” Mayor Andriy Sadovyi posted on Facebook Friday morning. “The windows in the buildings of [a] motor transport company damaged. The situation on the pitch is being clarified and we will update later”.

However, Ukraine continues to fight for its freedom. A British military expert told BBC 4 Today that Russia is being “humiliated” on the battlefield at every turn. “The Russians are making almost every tactical mistake they can make,” former director of the UK Royal Service Michael Clarke said on Friday. “Surname [Russian troops] looked like completely unprepared forces, never fully thought through what a major campaign might look like. The Ukrainians are blocking Russia’s advance in all areas and are even now conducting quite effective counter-attacks. The Russians are losing a lot of equipment and troops.”

In Lviv, the BBC’s Lyse Doucet was asked during a broadcast about St. Sofia was behind her live filming location, and she answered poignantly that prior to the invasion, the glittering domes “lit up the night” in the city, which were designated as cultural by UNESCO. heritage. She said the bell of St. Michael still rings out for hours, calling it “a reassuring message throughout this city that all is not lost, and perhaps one day this country will resume its rhythms and rituals.” .