Russia struck cities across Ukraine overnight, killing at least 20 people and casting doubt over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s attempt to revive stalled peace efforts during talks in Ankara on Wednesday.
Zelensky arrived in Turkey early Wednesday for a visit that Kyiv hoped would restart diplomatic contacts aimed at ending Russia’s invasion.
Moscow’s strikes hit residential neighborhoods and energy sites as winter approaches, including two apartment blocks in the western city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.
Images from local officials showed shattered buildings, fires inside damaged apartments and debris covering nearby streets.
“The number of casualties from the Russian missile strike on Ternopil has risen to 20 people, including two children,” Ukraine’s state emergency service said on social media.
The interior ministry said another 66 people were wounded, including 16 children.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 476 drones and 48 missiles and claimed to have intercepted most of them.
Officials in Ternopil said the fires raised chlorine levels in the air and told residents to stay indoors.
Strikes also wounded at least 46 people in the Kharkiv region and hit other areas in western Ukraine.
Ahead of the talks in Turkey, Zelensky urged stronger Western pressure on Russia.
“Every attack shows that the pressure on Russia is insufficient,” he said.
A senior Ukrainian official told Agence France-Presse that the main goal of the Ankara meeting was to secure renewed US engagement in diplomacy and to push Moscow toward negotiations through sanctions and political pressure.
There was uncertainty over whether US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would attend the Ankara talks after media reports said he had canceled his trip.
Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara to discuss “the best ways to ensure that Ukraine achieves a just peace,” he said.
Turkey has hosted three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine this year that resulted in prisoner exchanges and the return of bodies of killed soldiers.
The Kremlin said no Russian representatives would participate in Ankara but reiterated that Moscow was open to negotiations under its conditions.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine surrender more territory and end military cooperation with Western governments if Kyiv wants Moscow to halt its invasion.
© Agence France-Presse