Russia strikes Ternopil; 25 dead, including three children, after overnight missile and drone barrage
TERNOPIL, Ukraine — A Russian missile and drone strike on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil killed 25 people, including three children, and wounded another 73, the interior ministry said, in one of the deadliest attacks on the country’s west since the 2022 invasion.
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“Twenty-five people, including three children, were killed as a result of Russian shelling of the city. Another 73 people, including 15 children, were wounded,” the ministry said on social media, updating earlier tallies. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed multi‑storey residential buildings were hit and warned others may still be trapped under rubble.
The overnight strikes targeted energy and transport infrastructure across Ukraine, forcing emergency power cuts as temperatures fell. Energy officials said infrastructure in seven regions was struck, and authorities imposed restrictions on power usage for consumers nationwide.
Wreckage and black smoke rose from a high‑rise in Ternopil after the attack; witnesses and emergency crews described the upper floors of a residential tower torn away and fires burning through the haze. Rescue services were evacuating survivors and searching for those trapped.
Ukrainian officials said the assault involved more than 470 drones and 48 missiles. In neighboring Poland, a NATO member bordering western Ukraine, authorities temporarily closed Rzeszow and Lublin airports and scrambled Polish and allied aircraft as a precaution to safeguard its airspace.
Mr. Zelensky, who was in Türkiye for talks aimed at reviving peace efforts, urged Western allies to increase pressure on Russia and to provide more air‑defence missiles. “Every brazen attack against ordinary life shows that the pressure on Russia is insufficient,” he wrote on X.
The Kremlin said there had been no new innovations on possible peace proposals since an August summit in Anchorage and declined to comment in detail on a media report about a proposed U.S. plan. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had nothing to share publicly.
Amid the strikes, two senior U.S. Army officials made an unannounced wartime visit to Kyiv, Politico reported. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George were due to meet Zelensky, senior commanders and members of parliament in talks seen as part of efforts to shore up support and revive stalled diplomatic channels.
The full extent of damage from the overnight bombardment remained unclear on Saturday. Emergency services continued search and rescue operations in Ternopil and other affected cities while regions worked to restore power and clear transport routes disrupted by the attack.
Polish authorities said their precautionary airspace measures were lifted after patrols, and international partners reiterated calls for increased deliveries of air‑defence systems to help Ukraine defend population centers and critical infrastructure.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
