The Bloodiest Attack in Western Ukraine

Early in the morning of November 19, Russian cruise missiles attacked the city of Ternopil, located 700 kilometers from the nearest combat zone.

Previously, Russian drones and missiles had attacked this rear city in the west of the country. Still, the attack on November 19 was the largest and bloodiest — as of the evening of November 20, 26 people are known to have died, including three children. About 20 more people may be under the rubble. Thus, the attack on November 19 became the most terrible in terms of the number of victims, not only in Ternopil itself — previously, there had not been such significant civilian casualties during shelling in any city in western Ukraine.

The main impact of the Russian missiles was on two residential buildings located several hundred meters apart. There are fatalities at both impact sites.

In one case, the missile strike caused a rapid and destructive fire; some people were unable to leave their apartments and died as a result of the fire. The second location was a direct hit by a Russian Kh-101 missile on the upper floors of a nine-story building. Several floors were utterly destroyed, and the brick building collapsed, trapping a large number of people between the floors.

“We heard the first explosions; they were still relatively far away. We were still hesitant about going to the shelter, but I had a premonition. We gathered our documents, I took the child, and we started going down. My cousin lives on my floor; we talk every day, we live ‘next door’ to each other. I knocked on his door and told him that we needed to go down, but he said that he wouldn’t go yet and would observe the situation. My husband, the child, and I left the house, 5 to 10 minutes passed, and then the explosion happened. Our apartment and my cousin’s apartment were destroyed,” says Olha, a resident of Ternopil.

Throughout the day on November 19, the woman and her husband waited for information about her cousin. His phone wasn’t answering, and the destruction looked terrible. However, around 5 PM, it became known that the man was alive. Emergency services managed to hear his voice during a special “minute of silence,” when all equipment and work stopped. Later, the man was rescued. He had fallen from the 9th to the 7th floor, spending about 10 hours under large slabs of concrete, some of which were smoldering.

“At first, I was sure he was alive. But time went on. It was already evening. My husband told me, “If they don’t find him in the evening, we need to prepare for the worst.” I understood that too. But then we found out that he was alive. We were shocked, the doctors too — after such an explosion and so many hours under the rubble, he only had a broken arm, a concussion, and a minor chest injury. He is conscious, remembers everything, and is joking. He says he was very cold, but he knew they would get him out,” Olha shares the joyful news.

The woman and her brother completely lost their homes, but they survived. City Mayor Serhii Nadal clarified that the building is beyond repair, and all residents will receive assistance with relocation and compensation from the state and the city.

However, not everyone was as lucky as Olha’s family. Ihor has been waiting for information near the building for more than a day. The man did not live in the destroyed building, but his great-grandmother lived there on the 6th floor. The 6th and 7th floors are the most difficult for searches: the floors above “collapsed” at the 6th— and 7th-floor levels. Thus, to get to the area of ​​the 6th and 7th floors, it is necessary to clear the rubble from other floors that have fallen on top.

“I heard explosions, went outside. And then I met a neighbor who said that the house had been destroyed. I asked for the address and realized that it was my great-grandmother’s house. I immediately ran there. And I’ve been waiting for information all this time. In fact, you can see that in the area of ​​her apartment, the floors have “collapsed” in a certain way, so there may be free space there. I have hope, but it’s been a day and a half already, and the hope is dwindling. I see how the guys from the State Emergency Service are working. I understand that it’s challenging. So I’m just waiting. I didn’t sleep all night. I talked to my wife. My great-grandmother loves life very much. She used to walk outside with her cat; she was always with it. Most likely, she is still under the rubble with that cat. In the end, even if they recover the body, that’s also very important to me,” says Ihor.

Around the building, you can see many people, like Ihor, waiting for news. Many of them are not ready to talk to the press, which is perfectly understandable. From time to time, people receive notifications from the morgues.

“What did I see? I didn’t have time to see anything. There was a powerful explosion. It was as if the earth turned upside down, split open. Our doors were jammed, and we couldn’t get out. My husband is a second-group invalid, and he was getting ready to take his medication in the morning. Then the State Emergency Service arrived very quickly, really quickly. They started breaking down our doors, freed us, and helped us get out. But on my floor, next door, there was a woman and two children. They suffered much worse damage. They haven’t been rescued yet,” says another resident of the affected building.

Several witnesses confirmed information about the woman and children under the rubble, but only the State Emergency Service can officially confirm this after inspecting the indicated floors and apartments.

Given the scale of the events, the complexity of the object, and the number of victims, the best units from different regions of Ukraine arrived to help their Ternopil colleagues. In particular, as reported by Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a representative of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the newly created special unit of the State Emergency Service “Delta” was working at sites in Ternopil. This group can reach different regions of the country quickly and perform the most dangerous and complex tasks. During training, “Delta” even practices rappelling from helicopters and underwater rescue operations.

As of the evening of November 20, search and rescue operations in Ternopil continue.

Updated: as of the morning of November 23, it is known that 34 people have died, including 6 children.