A devastating Russian aerial assault on Ternopil in western Ukraine has killed at least 26 people and wounded dozens more, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has confirmed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that 22 people were still missing at the site of Wednesday’s Russian attack on Ternopil. Russia unleashed 476 drones and 48 missiles across Ukraine, striking vital energy and transportation infrastructure and forcing emergency power cut-offs during freezing weather.

In Ternopil, the attack obliterated the upper floors of a residential building. Smoke billowed from the structure as firefighters battled the blaze while distraught residents gathered below, anxiously awaiting word about missing loved ones.

Klymenko reported via Telegram that emergency crews worked throughout the night searching through the collapsed structure. “A lot of work lies ahead. The main thing is to find those who could still be under the rubble,” he wrote.

“In the building where two entrances were completely burned out, not a single flat 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.”

Authorities confirmed three children were among those killed.

Oksana Kobel remained hopeful about her son, who had been in a ninth-floor flat during the strike. “I went to work, heard the explosions. I called him and said ‘Bohdan, go to the shelter, get dressed.’ He answered ‘Mum, I am already up, everything will be fine’,” she recalled.

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Poland, a NATO member sharing a border with western Ukraine, temporarily shuttered Rzeszow and Lublin airports in its southeast and deployed aircraft to protect its airspace.

The bombardment coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Turkiye aimed at reviving peace talks with Russia following his European diplomatic mission.

The attack damaged energy infrastructure across seven Ukrainian regions, prompting nationwide restrictions on power consumption.

Russia, which denies intentionally targeting civilians, claimed the air strikes were in response to “terrorist attacks” on Russian territory, alleging Ukrainian forces fired four United States-made ATACMS missiles at Voronezh in southern Russia.

Ukraine’s military confirmed on Tuesday that it had targeted Russian military installations with these missiles.