Devastating Drone Assault: UNESCO Site Among Targets in Ukraine

Tue Mar 24 2026 19:54:28 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

In an unprecedented daytime assault, over 400 Russian drones struck western Ukraine, causing significant damage to a UNESCO World Heritage site and resulting in multiple casualties across several cities.

On Tuesday afternoon, Russia launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine, targeting multiple western cities including Lviv, where the historic Bernardine monastery was damaged. The Ivano-Frankivsk region reported casualties, with two deaths and several injuries. This attack marks one of the largest assaults within a 24-hour period, as recent hostilities escalate across the war-torn nation.

Russia has launched an unusual daytime attack on Ukraine, hitting cities across the west of the country with over 400 drones on Tuesday afternoon.

Lviv regional head Maksym Kozytskyi said the Bernardine monastery, a 16th-Century UNESCO site, was damaged. A video posted by Lviv authorities shows a fire burning through the roof of a residential building near the monastery.

Three other western cities, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, and Ternopil, were also targeted.

The head of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, Svitlana Onyshchuk, reported that two people were killed and four, including a six-year-old child, were injured. Various buildings in the city, including a maternity hospital, were damaged.

In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi announced that 13 people were injured and cautioned that the number may rise.

The strikes arrived mere hours after a heavy overnight attack left at least five people dead. A 61-year-old woman died when a drone struck an electric train in Kharkiv, and additional fatalities were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Poltava.

Despite the ongoing conflict affecting nearly all of Ukraine, the western regions have typically faced less intensity compared to areas closer to the Russian border in the east.

Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, stated that a large number of drones entered Ukrainian airspace moving in columns. He noted that this attack was among the largest within a 24-hour period, highlighting the intensifying nature of the conflict.