Kyiv: A large Russian drone and missile barrage on Ukraine’s western city of Ternopil killed at least 25 people, including three children, authorities said Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Turkey in search of diplomatic support for his fight against Russia’s invasion.
The nighttime attack hit two nine-story apartment blocks in Ternopil, located around 200 kilometres from the Polish border, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Emergency crews were sifting through the rubble for survivors, he said. At least 73 people, including 15 children, were injured, emergency services said.
Russia fired 476 strike and decoy drones, as well as 48 missiles of various types, at Ukrainian targets overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. The bombardment included 47 cruise missiles, with air defences intercepting all but six of them, the air force said. Western-supplied F-16 and Mirage-2000 jets intercepted at least 10 cruise missiles, it said.
“Every brazen attack against ordinary life indicates that the pressure on Russia (to stop the war) is insufficient,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
Zelenskyy said he would meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later Wednesday as part of his efforts to diplomatically isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring more international pressure to bear on him.