A Russian missile and drone attack on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil has resulted in at least 26 fatalities, including three children, according to reports from Ukrainian officials. Two apartment buildings were struck in the assault.
Authorities report that 93 individuals were wounded, 18 of whom are children, in the early Wednesday strike. It is considered among the deadliest attacks in the region since the commencement of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Ukrainian Air Force later confirmed that Russian Kh-101 cruise missiles impacted the residential complexes.
Neighboring regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk were also targeted. Additionally, a drone attack on three districts of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, left over 30 people injured. Online images depict buildings and vehicles engulfed in flames.
The Air Force stated that it intercepted 442 out of 476 drones and 41 out of 48 missiles launched by Russia. This includes 10 missiles reportedly destroyed by F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets supplied to Kyiv by its Western allies.
Highlighting the current strain on Ukraine’s air defenses, the Air Force appealed for “the uninterrupted and timely supply of aviation weapons from Western partners.”
Ternopil, located closer to the Polish border than Kyiv, has experienced relatively few attacks since the full-scale invasion began. Social media footage captured missiles traversing the sky towards the city, with limited evidence of ground-based air defenses in action.
The extent of the damage in Ternopil became rapidly apparent. A video shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed a complete collapse of one of the apartment buildings. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported that the destruction spanned from the third to the ninth floors.
Zelensky described the attack as causing “significant destruction,” with many victims believed to be trapped in the rubble. Smoke billowed from windows, and small fires burned near the building.
A large plume of smoke ascended behind the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ternopil, as sirens sounded throughout the city.
Despite increasing efficacy in intercepting Russian missiles and drones, Ukraine’s limited defense systems and the vastness of the country leave it vulnerable. The incident in Ternopil underscores the risk of attacks breaching defenses and causing devastating consequences.
Energy facilities, transport infrastructure, and civilian infrastructure were also damaged in other parts of western Ukraine.
The energy sector in the Ivano-Frankivsk region was targeted, with two of the three reported wounded being children.
The head of Lviv region reported an attack on an energy facility.
Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid as the fourth winter of the war approaches, aiming to undermine morale, logistics, and Ukraine’s defense industry.
With electricity supplies already rationed, the energy ministry announced further power cuts across the country following the latest attacks.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed responsibility for the “massive strike using long-range precision weapons,” asserting that the targets were Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex and energy sector” in response to Ukrainian attacks on “civilian targets.”
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s military acknowledged using US-supplied longer-range ATACMS missiles against military targets inside Russia, marking the first admission of utilizing ATACMS on Russian soil.
The Russian defense ministry accused Ukraine of firing four missiles at the city of Voronezh, but stated that all were intercepted by air defenses.
Meanwhile, President Zelensky traveled to Ankara, Turkey, in an effort to revive a US initiative to end the war. He met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid reports that President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been collaborating with Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev on a plan.
The Kremlin stated earlier that no Russian representative would participate in the talks in Ankara.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to dismiss US media reports suggesting that Washington and Moscow were developing a peace plan for Ukraine without the involvement of Kyiv and its European allies.
“In this case, we have no additional innovations to what we call ‘the spirit of Anchorage’,” Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s state-run media, alluding to the August summit between Putin and Trump in Alaska.
Any agreements reached during the one-day meeting have not been disclosed.
Peskov’s remarks coincided with reports that Zelensky was scheduled to meet with two high-ranking US Army officials in Kyiv on Thursday. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George are reportedly the highest-ranking US military officials to visit the Ukrainian capital since President Donald Trump assumed office, according to Reuters.
In a separate development, Romania’s defense ministry reported that a Russian drone traversed approximately 8km (5 miles) through its airspace early Wednesday morning. The drone then crossed into Ukraine and Moldova before returning to Romania, it stated.
Romanian and German air force planes were scrambled in response to the incursion, and the defense ministry indicated uncertainty regarding the drone’s final destination.
Poland also deployed jets early Wednesday and temporarily closed two airports in the southeast due to the strikes in western Ukraine.
As the fourth anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches next February, Moscow and Kyiv remain fundamentally divided on how to resolve the conflict.
Ukraine and its Western allies, including the US, have urged an immediate ceasefire along the extensive front line. However, Russia has consistently rejected this, reiterating demands that Ukraine views as tantamount to surrender.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow’s preconditions for a peace agreement – including stringent limitations on the size of Ukraine’s military and the country’s neutrality – remain unchanged since Putin outlined them two months before the full-scale invasion.
The movements of the Yantar is a worry for Britain’s defence chiefs and provocative.
Former Ukrainian military officer Serhiy Kuznetsov will face a charge of anti-constitutional sabotage in Berlin.
John Healey says he has updated the Navy’s rules for tracking the vessel after the “dangerous” move.
With Europe imposing sanctions on Moscow, there has been a growing network of vessels sailing without a valid flag from Russia through European waters.
Authorities say the blast happened on a line leading to the border with Ukraine.