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Funerals, beauty queens and bombs: The Ukrainian city that won’t let Putin win
Inside Lviv: Ukraine’s ‘Unbroken City’
Fox News Digital reports from Lviv, where military funerals, civilian weapons training and beauty pageants coexist as residents struggle to preserve normal life four years into Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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LVIV, Ukraine — As Kyiv takes a massive hit from Russia, another city seeks to carry on amid war. Four years into Russia’s war, the western Ukrainian city of Lviv is trying to master something impossible: how to live normally while surrounded by death.
At 11:30 a.m., the city stops.
Cars freeze in the middle of the street. Pedestrians pause on sidewalks. In the center of town, underneath the tall clock tower that rises above city hall, people bow their heads in silence as another military funeral convoy passes through the streets.
«It happens one to five times a day,» a local resident says quietly.
The war feels far from Lviv, until suddenly it doesn’t.
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Residents stop in silence as a military funeral convoy carrying a fallen Ukrainian soldier passes through central Lviv near City Hall. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)
The city of roughly one million people sits near the Polish border, hundreds of miles from the brutal front lines in eastern Ukraine. But Russian drones and missiles still hit here. Air raid sirens interrupt coffee dates and children’s soccer games. Funeral processions cut through wedding traffic. Entire neighborhoods live between moments of beauty and grief.
«We lost approximately 2,000 citizens of Lviv,» Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview at city hall. «It is a very huge price which we pay to our independence, to our democracy.»
Sadovyi has led the city for nearly two decades, except for a brief presidential run. Inside his office overlooking the historic center, he proudly points to the terrace where he has hosted world leaders and celebrities, including actor Tom Cruise. At one point, a large well-fed cat jumps onto his desk.
«This is my deputy,» Sadovyi jokes. The cat, he explains proudly, has become something of a city mascot. «He’s tough like a Ukrainian.»
But beneath the humor is exhaustion. Sadovyi says he realized at the beginning of the war that Lviv had a special responsibility. It was close enough to Europe to remain functioning, but close enough to war to understand what was at stake.
His answer was what he calls the «Unbroken» project: a sprawling rehabilitation and innovation effort aimed at helping Ukraine survive physically and psychologically.
The city built rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers and civilians arriving from across the country, treating amputees, burn victims and trauma patients. Sadovyi says the municipality also dedicated 20% of its budget to supporting defense technology companies developing military solutions for the war effort.
«Every family in this city was affected by war,» he says. «We need to be strong. We need to survive. I’m building what is needed for that.»
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A shooting instructor stands inside a civilian training range in Lviv, where residents learn weapons handling, survival skills and emergency preparedness amid the ongoing war. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)
Yet survival in Lviv is not only about weapons or hospitals. It is also about convincing people not to give up on life itself.
«People are afraid to come here,» Sadovyi says. «But we need them to come.»
One of the city’s newest projects reflects that mentality. Part school, part shooting range, part patriotic training center, it was designed to prepare civilians for a country where war has become everyday reality.
Inside one classroom, dozens of teenage girls sit listening to instructors explain emergency survival skills. Upstairs, at the indoor shooting range, instructor Vitaliy proudly shows off rows of American-made weapons including AR-15 style rifles and pistols.
«It’s not as big as ranges in the United States,» he says apologetically.
On the wall hangs a shredded image of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, riddled with bullet holes from target practice.
Vitaliy laughs when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin posters.
«We ran out,» he jokes. «They’re too popular. We can’t keep them.»
On the terrace outside, two wounded veterans practice archery.
One sits in a wheelchair after losing both legs in the war. Another leans on a cane. Both have become competitive athletes through rehabilitation programs.
NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US
Weapons and helmets at a local center in Lviv where locals practice shooting among other things. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital.)
One proudly explains he won a silver medal during a national contest. The other recently took gold and is now preparing for an international championship. Neither wants to talk much about what happened to them during combat.
Their therapy now is sport.
Down the road, another funeral begins. A military convoy carrying the body of a 32-year-old soldier drives slowly through the city center until it arrives at the cemetery.
The city’s military cemetery filled so quickly that officials recently had to open a new burial ground just weeks ago. Already, rows of fresh graves stretch across the hillside, above them blue-and-yellow flags and photographs of young men and women smiling back from before the war.
The grieving brother at the funeral says the fallen soldier never had time to start his own family.
Around him, families kneel beside the earth.
And still, life continues.
Children go to school. Mothers rush to work. Cafés remain packed. Street musicians perform in the old town square.
That same evening, inside the Lviv Theater of Opera and Ballet, hundreds gather for the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant.
Young women dressed in glittering gowns pose beneath bright stage lights while music echoes through the theater. The audience is overwhelmingly female. Many of the men still in the city work in defense industries or hold exemptions from military service.
POLAND SEEKS ANSWERS AFTER PENTAGON SCRAPS PLANNED US ARMORED BRIGADE ROTATION
The contrast feels surreal only hours after attending a military burial.
But for many residents, events like these are an act of resistance.
«We are trying to keep life going,» the reigning Miss Lviv says backstage before crowning the next winner. «I want the war to stop.»
One of her friends explains why gatherings like this matter.
The reigning Miss Lviv during the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant in Lviv, as residents attempt to preserve normal life four years into the war. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)
«These are difficult times,» she says. «Doing normal things like this gives us a reason to dress up and enjoy ourselves.»
Nobody here believes anymore that peace can come in 24 hours. But many still hope that President Trump and the U.S. can help bring the war to an end.
By the time evening arrives, air raid sirens once again cut through the city.
At outdoor cafés, people barely react at first.
Contestants participate in the «Miss Lviv» beauty pageant in Lviv, as residents attempt to preserve normal life amid the ongoing war.
‘WRITTEN IN OUR DNA’: POLISH PILOTS WHO REMEMBER SOVIET RULE PREPARE FOR AMERICA’S MOST LETHAL FIGHTER JET
Parents continue watching children play near fountains. Young couples finish drinks on restaurant terraces. Residents wait to hear whether the threat is «only» drones or actual missiles before deciding whether to move toward one of the hundreds of shelters spread throughout the city.
That frustration increasingly extends beyond the battlefield itself. Speaking to Fox News Digital while the latest wave of Russian strikes battered Ukrainian cities overnight, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Andriy Melnyk warned that the war was becoming even more dangerous for civilians.
Melnyk, a native of Lviv, described the massive Russian assault between Saturday and Sunday as «the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion.»
Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations and a native of Lviv, speaks to Fox News Digital on May 26, 2026, warning that Russia’s latest assault was «the worst and the most devastating Russian attack on the capital since the beginning of the large-scale invasion.» (Efrat Lachter/ Fox News Digital)
Even members of his own family in Kyiv, he said, are now considering temporarily leaving the city because «it becomes unbearable to stay.»
In Lviv, residents repeatedly ask to remind the world that the war is still intensifying, not fading into the background. Melnyk called on the United States and European allies to take «bold actions» to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged Western countries to provide additional air defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilians.
He also criticized the United Nations for failing to stop the war, arguing that Russia’s veto power had left the Security Council effectively paralyzed.
Ukrainian female soldiers are seen before heading to the frontline as Ukrainian displaced civilians continue to swarm around the train station to flee due to ongoing Russian attacks, in Lviv, Ukraine on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On the overnight train leaving Lviv, most passengers are women. Border guards spend long minutes questioning the few men onboard, making sure they are not trying to escape mandatory military service.
The exhaustion is visible everywhere. Still, Sadovyi is full of hope.
«This city will have a great future,» he says confidently.
He believes the world will eventually come to Lviv not only to rebuild, but to learn.
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«To learn how to be unbroken,» he says.
Because, he warns, what happened to Ukraine could happen elsewhere too.
ukraine, wars, vladimir putin, military, technology
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Irán acusó a Estados Unidos de violar el alto el fuego con el ataque a sus embarcaciones y bases militares
El gobierno de Irán acusó este martes a la Casa Blanca de haber violado el frágil alto al fuego, después de los bombardeos nocturnos de Estados Unidos contra instalaciones iraníes de lanzamiento de misiles y embarcaciones.
“El ejército terrorista estadounidense, que continúa con sus acciones ilegales e injustificadas desde el alto el fuego (…) ha cometido en las últimas 48 horas una grave violación del alto el fuego en la provincia de Hormozgan”, afirmó el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores iraní en un comunicado.
La Cancillería agregó que Irán “no dejará sin respuesta ningún acto hostil y no dudará en defenderse”, sin dar más detalles.
El alto el fuego acordado el 8 de abril entre Estados Unidos e Irán fue seguido de semanas de estancamiento y amenazas, hasta que en los últimos días ambas partes informaron de avances en las conversaciones.
Sin embargo, las esperanzas de paz se truncaron con el ataque estadounidense a Irán y el anuncio de Israel el lunes de que intensificará su ofensiva en Líbano
Cómo fue el ataque estadounidense a Irán
Según el Mando Central de Estados Unidos (Centcom), el ataque del martes tuvo como objetivo instalaciones de lanzamiento de misiles y embarcaciones iraníes que intentaban colocar minas.
Según la agencia marítima británica UKMT, una “explosión externa” dañó un petrolero frente a las costas de Omán, pero tanto la tripulación como el buque están a salvo. Un hombre sostiene una bandera iraní y un retrato del líder supremo, Mojtaba Jamenei, en una calle de Teherán (Foto: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
Medios estatales iraníes reportaron explosiones nocturnas en Bandar Abás, una ciudad costera del sur cercana al estrecho de Ormuz. Los Guardianes de la Revolucióniraníes afirmaron que sus fuerzas habían derribado un dron estadounidense que penetró en su espacio aéreo y dijeron que dispararon contra un avión de combate F-35.
Por su parte, el líder supremo Mojtaba Jamenei dijo en una declaración difundida en la televisión estatal, que Washington está perdiendo influencia y que se aleja “cada día más de su antiguo estatus” en el golfo Pérsico.
Leé también: Estados Unidos confirmó que las negociaciones con Irán continúan pese a la escalada militar: “Tomará días”
“Estados Unidos ya no tiene un lugar seguro en la región para llevar a cabo sus agresiones”, estimó Jamenei, que no ha aparecido en público desde que asumió el cargo a principios de marzo en sucesión de su padre, Ali Jamenei, muerto el primer día de guerra.
Según él, los países del Golfo, atacados casi a diario por Irán en represalia por la ofensiva israelí-estadounidense que empezó el 28 de febrero, “no servirán más de escudo para las bases norteamericanas”.
Restablecimiento “parcial” de internet
Desde que estalló la guerra, las autoridades iraníes cortaron totalmente la conexión a internet, pero su acceso se restableció “parcialmente”, según indicó este martes la organización especializada Netblocks.
Aún así, precisó que “no está claro” si se mantendrá la conexión, tras el corte de internet a nivel nacional “más prolongado” de los registros.
El vicepresidente de Irán, Mohamad Reza Aref, declaró que el gobierno dio los primeros pasos para restablecer el acceso a internet.
En el frente diplomático, altos responsables iraníes, entre ellos el negociador jefe, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, y el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Abás Araqchi, viajaron el lunes a Doha en su primera visita desde el inicio de la guerra.
“Hemos llegado a una conclusión sobre una gran parte de los temas en discusión” declaró el mismo día el portavoz del Ministerio iraní de Exteriores, Esmail Baqai. “Pero decir que esto significa que la firma de un acuerdo es inminente (…), nadie puede hacer tal afirmación”, añadió.
El secretario de Estado estadounidense, Marco Rubio, aseguró durante una visita oficial a India que el acuerdo sigue siendo posible y evocó negociaciones “sobre el lenguaje específico en el documento, así que tomará unos días”.
Según la agencia de noticias Tasnim, las negociaciones en curso también incluyen la petición de Irán de liberar unos 24.000 millones de dólares en activos congelados en el extranjero como parte del proceso para poner fin a la guerra.
Donald Trump busca una salida a esta guerra, que ha perturbado gravemente la economía mundial debido al bloqueoiraní del estratégico estrecho de Ormuz, por donde suele transitar una quinta parte de las exportaciones globales de petróleo crudo y del gas natural licuado.
Su reapertura es uno de los principales objetivos de las negociaciones en curso.
(Con información de AFP)
Irán, Estados Unidos, Bolivia
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A Senate Republican ousted by President Donald Trump took a veiled shot at the president and is poised to become a foil to his agenda during Cassidy’s waning time in office.
Trump may have vanquished Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., from the upper chamber when he endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., in his primary race, but the lawmaker is not going quietly into the sunset of his political career in Congress.
Since the dust settled on Cassidy’s primary race, which is now headed to a runoff between Letlow and Louisiana state Treasurer John Fleming, the lawmaker has already dug his heels in against some of Trump’s key policy and spending desires.
RETIRING SENATOR WARNS IF TRUMP CONTINUES TO DO ‘STUPID THINGS’ IT WILL KILL GOP IN NOVEMBER
Sen. Bill Cassidy is quietly breaking with President Donald Trump after losing to a Trump-backed candidate in his primary race earlier this month. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Leon Neal/Getty Images)
In a lengthy post on X, Cassidy wrote of America’s future and called for unity. And though he did not explicitly name Trump, his viewpoint on leadership appeared to take a jab at the president.
«At its best, America has renewed itself through leaders who understood that public office is a responsibility, not a performance,» Cassidy said. «The American people do not expect perfection from their leaders, but they do expect seriousness.»
«Leaders who are steady, not erratic. Thoughtful, not impulsive,» he continued. «Their words should lower the temperature rather than inflame division. Their actions should place the long-term interests of the country above short-term political or personal gain.»
SENATE GOP ERUPTS OVER TRUMP DOJ ‘ANTI-WEAPONIZATION’ FUND, PUNTS ICE, BORDER PATROL FUNDING
Those messages came after Cassidy publicly broke with Trump on both the Iran war and the surprise nearly $2 billion «anti-weaponization» fund announced by the Department of Justice earlier last week.
When asked about the post, Cassidy told Fox News Digital in a statement, «If trust is destroyed, whether in marriage, business, or politics, it’s harder to get things done.»
«It is an observation of life,» he said. «Conversely, if you want to get things done, build trust.»
It all comes after Trump made Cassidy one of his targets in his so-called revenge tour.
Cassidy, along with a handful of other Republicans, voted to convict him during the last impeachment proceedings following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill. And he doesn’t regret that vote, telling reporters last week shortly after his loss that he «voted to uphold the Constitution.»
SENATE DEMOCRATS FINALLY CRACK GOP UNITY ON TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AS MURKOWSKI FLIPS
President Donald Trump attends an event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
«It may have cost me my seat, but who cares? I had the privilege of voting to uphold the Constitution,» Cassidy said. «Isn’t that a great thing?»
The White House, when asked for comment Tuesday on Cassidy’s apparent barb toward the president, told Fox News Digital to review the slew of Trump’s Truth Social posts about the lawmaker.
Trump celebrated Cassidy’s loss in his primary, and painted the lawmaker as being disloyal because of his impeachment vote.
«Bill Cassidy, after falsely using his ‘relationship’ with me during his political career, and winning Elections because of it, voted to impeach me on preposterous charges that were fake then, and now, are criminally insane,» Trump said. «His disloyalty to the man who got him elected is now a part of legend, and it’s nice to see that his political career is OVER!»
Shortly after, Cassidy bucked Trump on the Senate floor, joining nearly every Senate Democrat to handcuff the president’s war powers in Iran. He provided the pivotal vote to advance the resolution, which is expected to fail when brought to the floor once more.
And he, like several other Republicans, is outright rejecting the «anti-weaponization» fund, which, after a tense, closed-door meeting last week, has temporarily derailed the GOP’s push to fund immigration enforcement for the remainder of Trump’s term.
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Cassidy, like several of his colleagues, wanted Congress to have a say on the fund.
«People are concerned about making their own ends meet, not about putting a slush fund together without a legal precedent,» Cassidy said. «We’re a nation of laws. If there needs to be a settlement, let’s consider it, and Congress should come together and decide on that.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
politics, congress, donald trump, republicans elections, senate elections
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