Russia fires missile barrage at Ukraine in ‘softening up’ before Donbas push

Russia has unleashed a barrage of long-range missiles against Ukraine, in what analysts described as a "softening up" exercise before a major military push by Moscow to conquer the eastern Donbas region.

Four Russian rockets smashed into the western city of Lviv on Monday, killing seven people and injuring at least 11. Three hit military infrastructure. But the fourth appeared to have missed its target and landed in a car repair workshop.

The mayor of Lviv accused the Kremlin of genocide after the attack and said there were no longer any "safe" or "unsafe" areas left in Ukraine.

Andriy Sadovyi said: "What we see today is genocide. It's a deliberate action by the aggressor to kill peaceful civilians. All our cities and villages are in the same situation."

Russia claimed its strikes were conducted against exclusively military targets. The attack came amid expectations of a large-scale offensive by Moscow over the coming days to try to seize the administrative borders of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

After failing to capture the capital, Kyiv, Moscow has said its focus is now on the east. It appears determined to grab territory under Ukrainian control. This includes the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, which are adjacent to areas administered since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.

There is speculation Vladimir Putin is determined to declare victory in Ukraine in time for the annual 9 May parade on Red Square in Moscow. But Russia's numerically superior army will first have to overcome dogged Ukrainian defenders in the east, who are well-trained and dug in.

Speaking at a press conference, Sadovyi said one of the enemy rockets struck a Lviv garage and tyre repair workshop, killing four people. Others were injured including a child, with two adults critically hurt. Nearby windows were blown out including in a school, he said.

Maksym Kozytskyy, the head of Lviv's regional military administration, said the strikes were part of a "cynical and inhuman" pattern by the Russian government and its military.

They were trying to intimidate Ukraine by going after civilians, the mayor said, adding: "Look at what's going on in Mariupol. Thousands of innocent people were killed. What we have seen in Bucha and Hostomel is horrible."

The Russian opposition politician Ivan Zhdanov said the bombing in Lviv made no military sense. He said the Kalibr missile fired from thousands of kilometres away cost $6.5m (£5m) and had landed on a tyre workshop. "What's the logic here? Are they complete morons?" he tweeted.

Russia has previously bombed more plausible targets in and around Lviv including a tank repair factory and a military base.

The Unesco-listed city famous for its baroque and neoclassical architecture has been largely spared the Syria-style destruction suffered by Mariupol, Kharkiv and towns on the Donbas frontline.

Lviv is a temporary home to several hundred thousand people displaced by fighting in other parts of Ukraine. It is also a logistical hub for western arms deliveries sent via Poland. "We are using all possible routes to supply weapons to our army," Kozytskyy said.

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement that air-launched missiles had wiped out Ukrainian ammunition dumps and other military targets.

It said it had hit areas across the country including the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions and the southern port of Mykolaiv.

A powerful explosion was reported to have rocked Vasylkiv, a town south of Kyiv that is home to a military airbase, according to residents. There was also further deadly shelling in Kharkiv. Over the past four days, 18 people have been killed and 106 injured.

Russian forces failed again in their attempt to take full control of Mariupol. Ukrainian fighters who control a steel plant turned down the latest ultimatum by Moscow to surrender. Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, said they would "fight absolutely to the end".

The former head of the British army Richard Dannatt said Russia's escalatory tactics were a prelude to a ground offensive. Lord Dannatt told Sky News extensive shelling was designed to undermine the will of the Ukrainian people and to weaken Ukrainian defences - a "softening up".

The operation would be meticulously prepared as opposed to the "haphazard" initial push to Kyiv from the north that ultimately failed, he said. After an advance in the east, Russia could then threaten to move further west, he added.

Sadovyi, a one-time presidential candidate, said Putin was determined to subjugate the whole of Ukraine.

"We have to kick the enemy from our land," he said. "They want to turn us into slaves. We will fight to the last drop of blood because we are Ukrainians."

He said the west had to understand that war in Ukraine went beyond the fate of one country and was between totalitarian and democratic systems.

"We are defending everyone. Germany, Poland, Lithuania. We're taking the hit but the same missile tomorrow could be flying to a different country."

He continued: "We have to be a fist. We have to punch the enemy so hard that he cannot be an aggressor for the next 50 years."