Ukrainian sources report that a Russian drone and missile assault on the western city of Ternopil has resulted in the deaths of at least 20 individuals, including two children, and has struck two residential buildings.
According to authorities, an additional 66 individuals were injured, including 16 minors, in one of the most lethal Russian assaults on western Ukraine since the onset of the full-scale war in February 2022.
Two additional western regions, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, were affected, while a drone strike targeted three neighbourhoods in the northern city of Kharkiv, resulting in over 30 injuries. Images shared online depicted structures and vehicles engulfed in flames.
The Ukrainian energy ministry reported that power outages were affecting several locations nationwide.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia launched over 470 drones and 47 missiles, resulting in “substantial devastation.” He cautioned that individuals might get ensnared beneath the debris in Ternopil.
The destruction resulting from the Russian bombardments on Ternopil rapidly became evident. A video disseminated by Zelensky revealed that one of the two apartment complexes had entirely collapsed. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that it was obliterated between the third and ninth floors.
Smoke billowed from the windows, and little fires blazed outside the tenement.
A massive smoke cloud ascended in the distance behind the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ternopil, while sirens echoed around the city.
Energy facilities, transportation, and civil infrastructure sustained damage in other regions of western Ukraine.
The energy sector in the Ivano-Frankivsk region was targeted, resulting in injuries to two of the three affected individuals, who were youngsters.
The leader of the Lviv area announced that an energy complex had been hit.
Russian strikes occurred one day after Ukraine’s military announced the deployment of US-supplied longer-range Atacms missiles against military targets within Russia, marking the first acknowledgement of their use on Russian territory.
The Russian defence ministry alleged that Ukraine launched four missiles against the southern city of Voronezh, but stated that air defences intercepted all.
Simultaneously, Zelensky is travelling to Ankara, Turkey’s capital, to reinvigorate a United States initiative to end the conflict. He will engage in discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following claims that President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been collaborating on a plan with Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev.
The Kremlin said that no Russian delegate would participate in the discussions in Ankara. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov refrained from commenting on a media report indicating that the United States and Russia had been clandestinely collaborating on a peace plan for Ukraine.
Peskov informed the media on Wednesday that there is no fresh information to convey in this instance.
His remarks came amid rumours that Zelensky was scheduled to meet with two senior US military officials in Kyiv on Thursday. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff General Randy George are the highest-ranking US military officials to visit the Ukrainian capital since President Donald Trump assumed office, according to Reuters.
In a separate incident, Romania’s defence ministry reported that a Russian drone flew about 8 kilometres into its airspace during the early hours of Wednesday. The drone subsequently traversed Ukraine and Moldova before returning to Romania, it stated.
Romanian and German air force aircraft were deployed in response to the invasion, and the defence ministry stated that the origin of the drone’s descent remained uncertain.
Poland sent jets early Wednesday and temporarily shuttered two airports in the southeast in reaction to the strikes in western Ukraine.
As the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches next February, Moscow and Kyiv maintain fundamentally divergent perspectives on resolving the conflict.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia’s stipulations for a peace agreement had remained unchanged since Putin outlined them in 2024.
