Dozens killed in Russian strike on apartment buildings in western Ukraine

At least 26 people have been killed and many were listed as missing in a Russian drone and missile attack overnight that hit apartment buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, Ukraine's interior minister Ihor Klymenko said on Wednesday.

Russia fired 476 drones and 48 missiles at Ukraine, striking energy and transport infrastructure and forcing emergency power cuts in a number of regions in frigid temperatures.

Klymenko said 26 people were still missing after the overnight strikes, including three children. He said nearly 100 people had been hurt.

He wrote on Telegram, that emergency crews were working through the night, combing the site of the shattered apartment building.

"A lot of work lies ahead. The main thing is to find those who could still be under the rubble," Klymenko wrote.

"In the building where two entrances were completely burned out, not a single apartment was left intact. The flames flared up instantly and engulfed the building in a wave. People were terrified and tried to jump out of windows."

Officials said three children were among the dead.

Oksana Kobel hoped her son would be found alive. He had been in a ninth-floor apartment at the time of the attack.

"I went to work, heard the explosions. I called him and said ‘Bohdan, go to the shelter, get dressed.’ He answered ‘Mom, I am already up, everything will be fine’," she said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged allies to increase pressure on Russia to end its nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, including by providing Kyiv with more air-defence missiles.

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UkraineWar RussiaUkraineConflict kharkiv CivilianCasualties EasternEurope Volodymyr Zelenskyy Vladimir Putin