On July 12, 2025, a Russian drone strike caused significant damage to buildings at Lviv Polytechnic National University.

Photos show damage to the university’s buildings, including shattered windows and walls. The university rector, Nataliya Shakhovska, reported that 130 windows in three separate buildings were broken and several classrooms were damaged. There were no reported deaths or injuries on campus.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about military forces targeting higher education facilities in armed conflict. Parties to a conflict may only attack legitimate military targets; where a party suspects that a civilian facility — such as a university building — is being used for military purposes, that party has a duty to take every action practicable to verify that this suspicion is correct before initiating an attack. In the event of such an attack, parties must take all practicable precautions to avoid or minimize damage to civilian facilities. Further, parties must refrain from launching attacks which may be expected to cause disproportionate damage to civilian facilities.

Sources:
https://united24media.com/latest-news/russia-attacks-western-ukraine-with-missiles-and-drones-lviv-university-hit-two-killed-in-chernivtsi-9826
https://tvoemisto.tv/news/unaslidok_ataky_na_lviv_poshkodzheno_try_korpusy_lvivskoi_politehniky_foto_177757.html
https://www.reuters.com/world/russias-drones-missile-barrage-targets-ukraines-west-kills-two-2025-07-12/#:~:text=In%20the%20city%20of%20Lviv,by%20Tomasz%20Janowski%2C%20William%20Maclean