Seven people have died, including three children, after Russia pounded the west Ukrainian city of Lviv in a massive missile attack.

Several residential buildings were on fire after the devastating strike, while local schools have cancelled lessons for the day, Maksym Kozytskyi, the regional govrnor, said.

The attack was so close to the Polish border that the country activated its aircraft for the third time in eight days.

“This is 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,” the country’s air force command said on Wednesday.

Russia has recently stepped up its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine in what Kremlin-linked military bloggers have described as Moscow’s response to Kyiv’s Kursk invasion.

It comes after 51 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Poltava on Tuesday, with 200 more injured.

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