Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, many people have dubbed Lviv in the country's west "the safe city", so the first Russian air strikes within the city's limits have left many reeling.
Russian missiles have hit an oil depot and a defence facility in residential parts of the city, causing injuries and considerable damage to infrastructure, according to regional Governor Maksym Kozytskyy.
Air sirens disrupted the relative peace in the city at about 4:30pm local time after several quiet days in the region.
Initially few people at the town's busy railway station took the alarm seriously, with most choosing to wait for their train rather than seek shelter.
But within minutes, officials started running to the platform and frantically telling crowds to move to a safer place.
There have been many warning air raid alarms in this city across the past month. But it was not long before people sensed this was different.
Quickly the lower underground hallways at the station filled with hundreds of people, many scrolling through social media apps on their phones, desperately trying to find out what had happened.
By now, thick black plumes of smoke could be seen across the city, close to the town's major telecommunications tower, while military and police patrolled the streets.
"Stay in shelters! Do not go out into the streets!," Ms Kozytskyy warned residents.
While there had been a deadly attack on a military facility about 50 kilometres from the city earlier this month, residents in Lviv had not seen anything like this since the war started.
Liliia Torchylo was comfortable in the city after relocating from another smaller town in central Ukraine.
"We are in the safe city and we love Ukraine. We want to stay," she said just minutes before the siren sounded.
As the alarm sounded, her husband was questioning their decision to stay in Ukraine with their young son.
"I will worry constantly about them now," he told the ABC.
While the citizens were still under orders to stay in a shelter, a train arrived carrying dozens of people from conflict-ridden areas of Ukraine.
Lviv has become a safe haven for thousands.
They arrived in the town they hoped would offer safety and salvation only to be taken to an underground shelter as an emergency unfolded around them.
'Butcher' Putin 'cannot remain in power': Biden
The strike came just days after Russia's Defence Minister declared the country's army would now focus on the Donbas region, in Ukraine's east.
Lviv is closer to Krakow than Kyiv, located in the far west of the country just 70 kilometres from the border to Poland — a NATO country.
US President Joe Biden, who is currently visiting Poland, labelled his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "butcher" and said he did not believe Moscow was changing its war strategy.
"With today's blows, the aggressor sends greetings to President Biden," Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said.
Western leaders have repeatedly warned that any attack on a NATO country would be an attack against the entire alliance, which includes the US.
As evening fell, Mr Biden made an impassioned speech to Polish crowds in Warsaw, who waved Ukrainian, Polish and US flags.
"For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power," he told crowds.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters: "That's not for Biden to decide. The president of Russia is elected by Russians."
A White House official later said Mr Biden was not calling for a regime change in Russia.
Within hours of the US President's speech, fresh air raid alarms were sounding in Lviv, putting many on edge after warnings from authorities there could be more strikes.
As the war drags into its second month, these new attacks in western Ukraine have left many feeling like there is no safe place in their country.
