At least 25 killed as Russian strikes rip through western Ukraine—children among the dead, dozens still missing.

At least 25 people were killed in a Russian drone and missile strike overnight on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Around 80 others were wounded as Russia launched 476 drones and 48 missiles across Ukraine, targeting energy and transport infrastructure and triggering emergency power cuts in several regions amid freezing temperatures.

The attack ripped apart the upper floors of a residential building in Ternopil. Smoke billowed upward as firefighters battled the flames, while devastated residents waited outside for news of their missing family members.

“It seems that from the ninth floor down to the first, this fiery lava engulfed our people. They had no time to escape because everything was burning,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in televised remarks.

Officials reported that three children were among the dead. About 25 people remain missing, meaning the death toll could rise.

One resident, Oksana Kobel, waited anxiously for word about her son, who was in a ninth-floor apartment at the time.
“I went to work and heard the explosions. I called him and said, ‘Bohdan, go to the shelter. Get dressed.’ He said, ‘Mom, I’m already up. Everything will be fine.’”

Following the attack, NATO member Poland temporarily closed Rzeszów and Lublin airports and scrambled Polish and allied aircraft as a precaution to secure its airspace.

The strike coincided with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s trip to Turkey, where he sought to revive peace negotiations with Russia after a short diplomatic tour of European capitals.

Zelenskiy urged Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow, saying:
“Every brazen attack against ordinary life shows that the pressure on Russia is insufficient. Effective sanctions and assistance to Ukraine can change this.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the country would bring Russia’s “horrific murder” to the spotlight at the next UN Security Council meeting.

Energy facilities were targeted in seven regions, resulting in nationwide power usage restrictions. Explosions were heard in Lviv, and Kharkiv also came under fire. In Kyiv, residents took shelter in metro stations.

Russia denied targeting civilians and claimed it launched the strikes in response to what it called “terrorist attacks” on Russian territory. It accused Ukraine of firing four U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at the Russian city of Voronezh.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it had struck military targets inside Russia with the missiles.

(Reuters)