Russia unleashes bloody, intense nationwide attack on Ukraine, killing at least 23 civilians

KYIV – A combined Russian drone and missile assault on Ukraine overnight was one of the deadliest and most intense since Moscow invaded the neighboring country in February 2022. 

Most of the civilian victims who perished were in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil on Nov. 19. 

At least 23 people have been killed, including three children, and 66 others were injured.

The airborne attack exclusively targeted residential buildings and infrastructure. 

“In Ternopil, residential nine-story buildings were hit, causing fires. Unfortunately, there is significant destruction, and there may be people trapped under the rubble. All necessary emergency services are on the ground, trying to save every life,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote.

Search and rescue operations continued through midday on Nov. 19.

Oles Horodetskyy, chair of the Christian Association of Ukrainians in Italy and a native of Ternopil, condemned the attack.

“Today, Russian killers struck Ukrainian cities again. Those behind Italian propagandists such as Alessandro Orsini, Marco Travaglio, Vincenzo Lorusso, and Andrea Lucidi targeted the residential neighborhoods of my Ternopil. Russian terror continues,” Horodetskyy wrote.

In response to the brutal attack, the Ukrainian community in Italy will stage a protest on Nov. 23 in Rome.

In total, Russia launched more than 470 attack drones and 48 missiles of various types, including ballistic and cruise missiles. Many regions are still reeling from the aftermath.

Explosions were reported in Kharkiv, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv, and Mykolaiv regions.