Russian attack kills 25 in Ukraine’s Ternopil as Zelenskyy meets Erdogan
in Turkey
[November 20, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — 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 went to 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 kilometers (120 miles) from the Polish border,
according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least 73 people,
including 15 children, were injured, emergency services said.
At least 19 among those killed were burned alive, including three
children aged 5, 7 and 16, Klymenko said. Two dozen people are still
unaccounted for, he said on national television, and rescuers expect to
work at least two more days to complete the search of rubble.
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 defenses
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 meets with Turkish president
Zelenskyy met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara
later Wednesday as part of his efforts to diplomatically isolate Russian
President Vladimir Putin and bring more international pressure to bear
on him. Putin has so far resisted making compromises, despite U.S.
pressure.
In brief statements to the press, Zelenskyy and Erdogan expressed their
commitment to finding a peaceful settlement. Turkey is a key broker in
the Black Sea region, preserving relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
“We count on the strength of Turkish diplomacy, on (how) it’s understood
in Moscow,” Zelensky said.
Zelenskyy said before the talks that he had seen “some positions and
signals from the United States" about the war. He didn’t elaborate.
Tough new American sanctions on Russia’s oil industry, devised to push
Putin to the negotiating table, are due to take effect on Friday.
A senior Turkish official initially said U.S. special envoy Steve
Witkoff would join Zelenskyy in Turkey, but backtracked later in the day
and said Witkoff wouldn’t be coming. The official spoke on the condition
of anonymity Tuesday because he wasn't allowed to speak publicly about
the arrangements.
U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and other high-ranking Army officials
are in Ukraine to help with peace talks, according to two U.S.
officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive
plans. Driscoll is scheduled to meet this week with Zelenskyy, one of
the officials said. Ukrainian officials confirmed that Driscoll was
meeting officials in Kyiv, but made no mention of any discussion of
renewing peace talks with Russia.
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A photograph of a child lies on the ground near a residential
building which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike on Ternopil,
Ukraine, on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlad Kravchuk)
Romania and Poland scramble fighter jets
Ternopil sits in a part of relatively peaceful western Ukraine,
where many people from the east and south moved to as they fled
danger along the front line.
Almost 50 people were injured in Russian strikes on three other
Ukrainian regions.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it attacked Ukrainian energy
facilities and military-industrial targets, including long-range
drone depots, in retaliation against strikes by Kyiv on Russian
territory.
Two Eurofighter Typhoon jets and two F-16s were scrambled in Romania
when a drone entered the NATO member’s airspace during the Russian
attacks, Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said.
The Polish military said that Polish and allied aircraft were
deployed in the middle of the night as a preventive measure.
Poland’s Rzeszów and Lublin airports were closed temporarily to
prioritize military aviation, the Polish Air Navigation Services
Agency said.
In northeastern Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russian
drones injured 46 people, including two girls, the head of the
regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, wrote on
Telegram. Drones hit several city districts, at least 16 residential
buildings, an ambulance station, school and other civilian
infrastructure, he said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Ukraine fired four
American-supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian city of Voronezh on
Tuesday. All four were shot down, the ministry said, but the debris
damaged a private house, an orphanage and a gerontology center.
There were no casualties, the ministry said.
Ukraine’s General Staff on Tuesday reported firing ATACMS missiles
at Russia without offering details.
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Associated Press writers Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England,
and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.
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