At least 25 people, including three children, were killed on Wednesday after a Russian missile strike tore through a residential building in western Ukraine, just hours after a failed attempt by President Volodymyr Zelensky to revive diplomatic talks in Turkey.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, did not travel to Turkey as expected, leaving Zelensky’s effort to “reinvigorate” the peace process with little outcome. No Russian representatives attended the talks.
The early-morning strike in Ternopil, far from the eastern front line, was the most lethal in the region in weeks. Cruise missiles obliterated upper floors of a Soviet-era apartment block, collapsing sections onto the street below.
Emergency teams, dangling in crane harnesses, searched for survivors amid the wreckage. Thick grey smoke engulfed the area after explosions rocked the city of 200,000 at around 7:00am. Officials later warned residents to stay indoors as airborne chlorine levels rose to six times above safety limits following fires at the site.
Wrapped in a blanket, 46-year-old Oksana recounted her final conversation with her 20-year-old son, Bohdan.
“He said: ‘Mum, don’t worry, everything will be fine.’ But it was too late,” she told AFP.
Her family lived on the ninth floor. Her son remains missing.
The State Emergency Service confirmed 25 dead and 92 injured, among them 18 children.
Diplomacy falters in Turkey
Zelensky’s unannounced visit to Ankara was billed as a bid to bring the United States back into mediation efforts. But with Witkoff absent and no Russian delegation, talks yielded few results beyond Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging a return to negotiations in Istanbul.
“The war must end, there is no alternative to peace,” Zelensky said, adding that Russia must not be rewarded for aggression.
Kyiv’s main diplomatic push centres on the hope that Washington will pressure Moscow into talks through tighter sanctions. However, efforts have stalled, and reports suggest Russia and the US have silently explored options to end the war — a claim the Kremlin declined to comment on.
Battlefield pressure mounts
Ukraine’s air force reported 476 drones and 48 missiles launched by Russia overnight. Romania scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone reportedly crossed into its airspace, and Moldova also logged an incursion.
With Ukrainian forces stretched and facing renewed assaults, Zelensky said he hoped to resume prisoner-of-war exchanges by year-end — one of the few tangible outcomes from previous Istanbul negotiations.
Russia continues to reject calls for a ceasefire, demanding that Kyiv make territorial concessions and scale back Western alliances — conditions Ukraine says would amount to “capitulation”.
As rescuers combed through shattered homes in Ternopil, Foreign minister Andriy Sybiga said:
“This is how Russia’s ‘peace plans’ look in reality.”
