Night over Lviv: drones, missiles, and the breath of war that does not cease

October 5, 2025. Western Ukraine woke up not to alarms — but to explosions.

The sky over Lviv was burning, as if someone had set the air itself on fire.
Outside the window, it was still dark, but the streets, windows, and emergency vehicle signals were ablaze.

This was one of the most intense Russian attacks on the western regions all year — the strikes came in waves, with intervals of mere minutes.

Shelling of Lviv: three consecutive strikes

The first “Shahed” drones appeared over the city around 04:30 AM.

The hum of their engines — low, ragged, as if someone was cutting the sky with a knife.

An hour later, at 05:22, “Kalibr” missiles struck Lviv from the Black Sea.

And at 06:00, the city shook from aeroballistic “Kinzhal” missiles launched from MiG-31 fighters.

In a few minutes — three types of weapons, three different directions, and one goal: to break.

Casualties and Injured

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported four dead and four injured.

Among the victims was a family with a 15-year-old teenager.
The blast wave brought down the walls of their house, leaving no chance to escape.

“We found them almost together,” said a rescuer, “the father tried to shield his son.”
This phrase, torn from the night, sounded heavier than any report.

The injured were taken to hospitals.
A 46-year-old man is in critical condition.
A 60-year-old woman has a moderate head injury.
Three others received assistance on the spot.

Advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashchenko confirmed:
“We are doing everything possible. But this was a strike on residential areas, not military targets.”

Shelling of civilian objects

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported serious damage in the industrial park Sparrow.
This is a civilian zone, unrelated to defense facilities.

Metal, glass, dust, and the smell of burnt rubber — all that remained of the production buildings.

Sadovyi said briefly:
“This is not the front. This is our home.”
His voice trembled — not from fear, but from helplessness in the face of senseless evil.

Strikes on other regions

That same night, the fire was not limited to Lviv.

In Zaporizhzhia, residential areas flared up again — the strikes hit objects near power lines.
Tens of thousands of people were left without electricity.

People walked the streets with phones — not as flashlights, but as the last connection to the world.

In the Cherkasy region, transformers were damaged.
The Ivano-Frankivsk region also suffered: the strikes hit infrastructure objects critical to the region.

Energy workers and rescuers worked without sleep, manually switching lines and laying cables.
At night, in complete darkness, people once again felt that the war was not somewhere far away, it was under their skin.

When the sky became a news feed

Lviv has endured much, but this night was different.

The sounds of explosions overlapped with barking dogs, children’s cries, and quiet prayers in basements.
Someone wrote in chats: “everything is fine,” someone was silent — and that silence was scarier.

At dawn, smoke hung over the city, resembling fog.
But fog dissipates. This — does not.