Ten Killed,Dozens Wounded in Russian Strikes Across Western Ukraine
TERNOPIL,Ukraine – A Russian attack on two residential buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil has killed ten people and wounded dozens more,including twelve children,Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported wednesday. The strike represents one of the deadliest Russian attacks on western Ukraine as the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The attacks were part of a wider barrage across Ukraine, with the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions also targeted. A drone attack wounded over 30 people in three districts of Kharkiv. Reports indicate buildings and vehicles were set ablaze. Widespread power cuts are affecting multiple regions nationwide, according to Ukraine’s energy ministry.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Russia launched over 470 drones and 47 missiles, causing “important destruction.” He warned that individuals may still be trapped under rubble in Ternopil. Energy facilities, transport infrastructure, and civilian areas were damaged in western Ukraine, particularly in the Ivano-Frankivsk region where two of three wounded were children, and in Lviv where an energy facility was struck.
The strikes follow a Ukrainian military announcement on Tuesday detailing the use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles to target military objectives within Russia - the first confirmed instance of such deployment. Russia’s defence ministry alleges ukraine fired four ATACMS missiles at Voronezh, claiming all were intercepted by air defenses.
Amidst the escalating conflict, President Zelensky is currently in Ankara, Turkey, seeking to revitalize peace efforts led by the united States. These talks with Turkish president Recep tayyip Erdogan occur alongside reports of a separate initiative involving US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev. However, the Kremlin has stated it will not participate in the Ankara discussions.
Further complicating the regional security situation,Romania’s defense ministry reported a Russian drone briefly entered its airspace for approximately 8km (5 miles) early Wednesday,traversing into Ukraine and Moldova before returning to Romania.Romanian and German air forces were scrambled in response, and the drone’s final location remains unknown. Poland also deployed jets and temporarily closed two southeastern airports as a precautionary measure.
As the conflict nears its fourth anniversary next February, Moscow and Kyiv remain deeply divided on potential pathways to peace, with russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirming Russia’s conditions for a peace deal remain unchanged since President Putin’s 2024 outline.
