Search and rescue operations in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil have been completed four days after a Russian missile strike on residential buildings, with officials confirming 33 people killed and six still missing. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (DSNS) said the main phase of work ended at 18:00 on 22 November.
According to the DSNS, the strike on the night of 18–19 November killed 33 people, including six children. A further 94 people were injured, among them 18 children. Six people remain unaccounted for, including one child, and are officially listed as missing.
The attack hit an industrial facility and two multi-storey residential buildings in the Soniachnyi district of Ternopil. Ukrainian authorities say cruise missiles launched by Russian strategic bombers struck the area in the early hours of 19 November, causing extensive structural damage and fires in the upper floors of the apartment blocks.
In one of the buildings, damage extended from the third to the ninth floor, leaving parts of the structure collapsed and a number of residents trapped under concrete slabs or blocked inside their flats. Interior Ministry officials described how fire and debris spread through stairwells and corridors, complicating evacuation in the first hours after the impact.
The DSNS reported that the core search-and-rescue effort was concentrated on two sites where destruction was most severe. Rescuers worked in shifts around the clock, operating in conditions they described as hazardous due to the risk of further collapse. In several sections of the building, clearing proceeded largely by hand on the fifth and sixth floors, where heavy machinery could not be used safely.
Units of the State Emergency Service from nine regions were deployed to Ternopil, together with specialist canine teams, heavy engineering equipment, medical personnel and psychologists. Rescue teams used search dogs, thermal imaging and manual probing to locate people in voids under the rubble. Firefighters also worked to extinguish remaining pockets of fire and to cool structures that had been weakened by the blast and subsequent blaze.
Over the four days of operations, 46 people were rescued from the damaged buildings, including seven children. Emergency workers also recovered three surviving pets – two cats and a parrot – which were handed back to their owners.
The confirmation of 33 fatalities followed the recovery of the body of a woman from the ruins shortly before the DSNS announced the end of active search work. Ukrainian media have reported that among those killed were a mother and her seven-year-old daughter whose remains were identified and buried by relatives earlier this week.
Local authorities are now moving from the rescue phase to debris removal, structural assessment and the provision of alternative accommodation. Engineers are examining the stability of the remaining sections of the apartment blocks and neighbouring buildings. Residents whose homes were destroyed or rendered unsafe are being relocated temporarily to public facilities, hotels and private accommodation offered by volunteers.
The Ternopil strike is one of the deadliest attacks on a civilian area in western Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Earlier estimates cited at least 25 dead and around 80 injured; the figures were revised upwards as bodies were recovered and the wounded count clarified over subsequent days.
The attack formed part of a wider wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on 19 November, in which long-range weapons were launched against multiple regions of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian and international reporting, Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at targets that included energy and transport infrastructure, causing emergency power cuts in several oblasts amid low temperatures.
Nationally, the incident has renewed debate over Ukraine’s air defence requirements, particularly in regions close to NATO borders that had previously experienced fewer high-casualty attacks. Officials in Kyiv have indicated that the Ternopil strike will be raised in international forums as part of ongoing efforts to secure additional air defence systems and to document the impact of long-range Russian strikes on civilians.
