At least 25 people were killed in a Russian drone and missile attack that hit apartment buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.
About 80 others were wounded as Russia fired 476 drones and 48 missiles at Ukraine, striking energy and transport infrastructure and forcing emergency power cuts in a number of regions in frigid temperatures.
The upper floors of a residential building in Ternopil were torn away in the attack.
Thick smoke billowed into the sky as firefighters battled fiercely to extinguish the flames, while anxious residents gathered outside, yearning for updates on their missing family members.
In response to the growing crisis, NATO member Poland, which shares a border with western Ukraine, took decisive action by temporarily closing the Rzeszow and Lublin airports located in the country’s southeastern region. As a precautionary measure to protect its airspace, Polish and allied aircraft were promptly mobilized.
“It seems that from the ninth to the first floor, this fiery lava engulfed our people. They did not have time to escape from their flats because everything was on fire,” interior minister Ihor Klymenko said in televised comments.
Officials said three children were among the dead and that the death toll could rise, with about 25 people still missing.
Oksana Kobel hoped her son would be found alive. He had been in a ninth-floor apartment at the time of the attack.
“I went to work, heard the explosions. I called him and said, ‘Bohdan, go to the shelter, get dressed.’ He answered ‘Mom, I am already up, everything will be fine’,” she said.
The assault on Ternopil coincided with a significant diplomatic moment, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared for discussions in Türkiye.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed profound concern over the increasing number of civilian casualties resulting from Russia’s attacks on Ternopil, stating he was “appalled” by the situation.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “appalled” by the number of civilian casualties in Russia’s strikes on Ternopil.
“The horror of powerful long-range missiles combined with waves of drones increasingly being used by Russian forces was again painfully laid bare in Ukraine this morning,” Turk said in a statement.
More pressure on Russia
Russia launched the attack as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled for talks in Türkiye intended to help revive peace negotiations with Russia, after his short tour to European capitals.
Zelenskyy urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end its nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, including by providing Kyiv with more air-defence missiles.
“Every brazen attack against ordinary life shows that the pressure on Russia is insufficient. Effective sanctions and assistance to Ukraine can change this,” he said on X.
Ukraine will “bring Russia’s horrific murder … to the spotlight of tomorrow’s UN Security Council meeting”, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
Energy infrastructure was hit in seven Ukrainian regions, officials said.
Restrictions were placed on power usage for consumers across the country.
A Reuters witness in the western city of Lviv reported hearing explosions, and the northwestern city of Kharkiv came under fire.
Residents took cover in metro stations far away in Kyiv.
Russia, which denies deliberately targeting civilians, said it had launched airstrikes in response to what it called “terrorist attacks” on Russian territories.
It said Ukrainian forces had fired four US-made ATACMS missiles at the southern Russian city of Voronezh.
Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it had attacked military targets in Russia with the missiles.
