Zelensky says 22 people still missing day after Russian strike

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that 22 people were still missing in the western city of Ternopil, a day after a Russian strike there killed at least 26 people, including three children. 

In one of the deadliest strikes on western Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, a missile ripped off the top floors of a block of flats in the city, with rescuers struggling to search for survivors amid the rubble. 

"All night long, our rescuers worked in Ternopil, and search-and-rescue operations are still ongoing. Twenty-two people are still missing," Zelensky said on social media. 

He said more than 200 rescuers from several regions were deployed to the city for the search efforts.

Ukraine's emergency services confirmed to AFP that more than 20 people were unaccounted for. 

"Over 20 people are currently unreachable. Until we take the structure apart and complete a full inspection, I cannot release any information," Oleksandr Khorunzhy, a spokesman for the service, told AFP.  

It released images late on Wednesday of rescuers working in the dark through the rubble, using cranes to get to the destroyed top part of the building -- a typical Soviet-era apartment block. 

© Agence France-Presse