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Deadly Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s western city of Lviv prompts NATO member Poland to scramble jets
Ukraine’s far western city of Lviv has been spared most of the bloodshed and destruction since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its former Soviet-era ally two-and-a-half years ago. But before dawn on Wednesday, Moscow reminded Ukraine — and its Western backers — that the city only 40 miles from the border with NATO-member Poland is not immune from the war.
Lviv residents started reporting explosions at 5:40 a.m. local time, with buildings near the city’s railway station, homes, schools and clinics all being hit. Mayor Andriy Sadovy said Russia had launched drones and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, damaging more than 50 buildings in the center of the city. At least seven people were killed, including three children, officials said.
In one video circulating widely on social media, rescuers frantically clawed through the rubble of a destroyed home to find a lifeless, dust-covered girl buried under the debris. Two girls, aged nine and 14, and a baby, were reported dead. Dozens more were wounded.
Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine/Getty
The attack so close to Poland prompted the government in Warsaw to scramble fighter jets to the Ukrainian border area, with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski telling the Financial Times that “membership in NATO does not trump each country’s responsibility for the protection of its own airspace — it’s our own constitutional duty.”
“I’m personally of the view that, when hostile missiles are on course of entering our airspace, it would be legitimate self-defense (to shoot them down) because once they do cross into our airspace, the risk of debris injuring someone is significant,” he told the FT.
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Ukraine’s military, meanwhile, issued an alert for the entire country to be ready for further aerial attacks. Russia has launched waves of hundreds of missiles and drones at the capital city Kyiv and across the country since Sunday, possibly in retaliation for Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region nearly a month ago.
Russian forces have so far been unable to dislodge the occupying Ukrainian troops, and Kyiv says they now hold about 450 square miles of Russian territory, an area about half the size of Rhode Island.
In the war-torn east of Ukraine, the city of Poltava was still reeling Wednesday from a Russian attack the previous morning. Two ballistic missiles slammed into the Poltava Military Communications Institute training center, killing at least 51 people and wounding more than 200 others. It was Moscow’s deadliest attack since October, when a Russian airstrike killed 59 people attending a funeral at a café in the Kharkiv region.
“The second missile hit three seconds after the first. I ran outside, there was smoke and dust everywhere,” said Mykyta Petrov, a cadet who was inside the military academy when it was hit Tuesday in Poltava. “Lots of people were outside having a cigarette. Many of them were killed.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to exact revenge on Russia for the deadly strike, and an investigation was launched to determine whether enough had been done to protect the military training facility.
“The Russian scum will surely pay,” he said, while also aiming some frustration at Western allies.
“Air defense systems are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tendered his resignation after Russia’s attack on Poltava. The 43-year-old had been the face of Ukrainian diplomacy around the world, trying to rally global support for the country since the war began.
Zelenskyy said last week that he would embark on a major government reshuffle before the winter.
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Across the United States, the issue of women clergy is currently a focal point in several Christians denominations, including the Catholic Church, where women are not allowed to be ordained.
The CBS Mornings series, “The State of Spirituality with Lisa Ling,” explores unique paths to faith, spirituality and religion. The latest installment of the series focuses on women in Albany, New York, leading a grassroots rebel movement in support of women clergy.
Around 52 million Americans identify as Catholic. According to Pew Research, around 64% of U.S. Catholics support the idea of women priests, but for hundreds of years, only men have been allowed to become ordained clergy.
“I think they’re afraid of change,” Bridget Mary Meehan said.
Meehan and Mary Theresa Streck are both part of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests—a worldwide movement advocating for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church. The women part of this movement are ordaining themselves in direct defiance of the Vatican.
Inside a warehouse-looking building in upstate New York, the rebels who are part of this movement convene for Sunday mass, hoping to inspire change.
“Change begins by somebody doing it,” Streck said.
Streck, along with congregants, are part of the Upper Room. It is described as an inclusive Catholic Community, where all are welcome. Streck, a woman priest part of the movement, presides over Sunday mass.
“People are looking for what we’re offering,” she said. “And they want to see ordained women, celebrating mass.”
The day CBS News visited the Upper Room, the sermon was delivered by Meehan, a bishop within the movement.
“Mary Magdalen’s energy rises up in us and inspires us to create a renewed model of church,” she preached.
The Roman Catholic Church does not allow women to be ordained, arguing in part, that clergy should be unmarried men in the image of Jesus and his 12 disciples. The women who are part of this movement disagree and have formed a resistance.
The Albany Diocese, in a statement to CBS News, said: “The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany is not affiliated with this group.” The Vatican did not respond to our requests for comment.
While other Christian denominations, like the Episcopal Church, do allow women clergy, these women say they have decided to remain Catholic, even if the church does not recognize them.
“It’s in my bones,” Streck said. “I am a Roman Catholic.”
A turning point for some
Like many organized religions in the 21st Century, Catholic Church membership is declining. Those who have left often say its because of the way the church has dealt with sexual abuse claims involving priests, as well as how the church has historically handled divorce, the LGBTQ+ community and women.
“I think the Catholic Church left me,” Upper Room parishioner Timothy Perry-Coon said, but added the women priests helped bring him back to Catholicism.
“We are the Catholic Church here, too,” he said.
For many who attend the Upper Room, 2010 marked a turning point with their Catholic faith, after the Vatican listed ordaining women as a grave offense— alongside pedophilia.
How the movement began and progressed
The Catholic women priest movement is traced back to 2002—when seven women were ordained on the Danube River in Germany. The Vatican excommunicated all known to be involved and said all those who come after are also considered excommunicated.
“Our response was we do not accept this excommunication,” Meehan said. “We’re leading the church we love into a renewed model of priestly ministry to respond to the needs of Catholics all over the world.”
Both Streck and Meehan are former nuns, raised devout and proud Catholics.
“By the time I was in third grade…I wanted to be a nun. I knew in third grade,” Streck said.
At just 17 years old, Mary Theresa says she was called to join The Sisters of St. Joseph. That was until 18 years later, when another call came—love.
“I met a young priest,” Streck explained. “I knew that I loved him dearly and he loved me dearly. So, we both resigned.”
But Streck said her faith never wavered, “I think it was stronger than ever.”
Streck and her husband, Jay, would get married within the public housing project where they ministered and continued to minister for many years, even after renouncing their vows. But after Jay died of cancer, Streck began to explore a new call: The priesthood. It’s a call she said she knows her husband would have supported.
She said in her first phone call about becoming a woman priest, Meehan told her if she pursued this, she would be excommunicated.
“And I said, ‘okay, well, that’s, that doesn’t mean anything really, because I will continue doing everything that I’m doing,'” Streck said she responded.
In 2013, hundreds attended as Meehan ordained Streck in Albany. It was a first in the area.
“And since 2013… we have 10 women who have been ordained,” Streck explained. “And I think people are saying, well, I’m not going to wait for the church to decide it’s okay.”
Around 300 women worldwide have now been ordained within the larger movement. Streck and Meehan both have doctorate degrees in ministry and have created a process and seminary curriculum for ordination. Yet, Streck and Meehan acknowledge they may never see women priests accepted in the Roman Catholic church.
“But that’s not a good reason not to do it,” Streck said.
Earlier this year, in a rare interview, the Pope addressed the issue of women clergy with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell.
“For a little girl growing up Catholic today, will she ever have the opportunity to be a deacon and participate as a clergy member in the church?” O’Donnell asked him.
“No,” Pope Francis responded.
But Streck and Meehan said that won’t stop them. They hope they are laying the groundwork for future generations of women priests. If they were given the opportunity to speak with the Pope or those in the Vatican, both women said they would tell them they love the Catholic Church.
“Do not be afraid of us,” Streck said. “We have a lot to offer.”
Meehan added, “We spent our whole lives just creating a church where there’s more justice, more equality and that everyone is so welcome at the table of God’s love.”
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