Kiev [Ukraine], November 20: At least 25 people were killed in a heavy Russian air attack on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, officials said on Wednesday.
The civil defence service reported on Telegram that at least 73 people were injured, including 16 children, following the overnight strikes on the city's residential areas, which hit two nine-storey buildings.
The number of victims rose throughout the day as rescue workers pulled people from the destroyed apartments, shown in pictures released by Ukraine's Interior Ministry. There were also massive Russian strikes in the eastern Kharkiv region during the night, which left more than 40 people injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Turkiye for talks, wrote on social media that Russia had launched more than 470 drone attacks and 48 missile strikes overnight.
He called on the international community to hold Moscow accountable, saying that "every brazen attack against ordinary life proves that the pressure on Russia is still insufficient." Effective sanctions, as well as missiles for air defence and other air defence systems, could change that, he said.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said Ukraine had used US-made ATACMS missiles again to strike targets in the Russian hinterland, this time in the Voronezh region, confirming reports made on Tuesday by the Ukrainian General Staff.
The Russian ministry said four ATACMS had been destroyed and that debris from downed missiles had hit the roof of a gerontological centre, an orphanage and a private property. There were no civilian deaths or injuries, it said.
According to media reports, there is a military airbase in Voronezh from which Russian Su-34 fighter jets launch strikes on Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry in Moscow, however, claimed that Kiev had used the US missiles to attack civilian targets.
Russian media said this was the first use of ATACMS missiles since US President Donald Trump took office in January.
After a meeting with Zelensky in September, Trump said he was ready to lift the restrictions on the use of long-range US missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported. There had already been such strikes against targets in Russia under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden.
Source: Qatar Tribune
