KYIV — Russia launched a deadly barrage of missiles and drones against Ukraine, as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought to revive long-stalled peace talks Wednesday with negotiations in Turkey.
At least 25 people were killed and some 73 wounded in Ternopil, in western Ukraine, when a Russian missile hit an apartment building, according to Ukraine’s emergency service. The top three floors of the building were hit, the first time that a Russian missile had struck a residential complex in the city. Emergency workers searched for people who might be trapped in the rubble, as priests prayed over the bodies of victims.
“This fragile sense of safety has been destroyed and there’s no longer any feeling that Ternopil is even a little bit safe,” Tetyana Dolishna, a 55-year-old resident, wrote on Facebook.
Zelensky said on social media that Russia had launched 470 attack drones and 48 missiles in the overnight attack, hitting energy, transport, and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.
The deadly strikes came while Zelensky was in Turkey to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, trying to reinvigorate efforts to end the war with what he said were new Ukrainian proposals. Ukrainian and Russian officials have not held direct talks since the summer, and negotiations have been stuck since the meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia in August in Alaska. Russian officials will not join the talks in Turkey.
Zelensky’s efforts to revive negotiations came as Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russian officials have prepared a proposal, without consulting Ukraine, for ending the war, according to a senior Ukrainian official.
It was not clear if Ukrainian officials would discuss this proposal in Turkey or whether it could come up in separate talks in Kyiv this week with a visiting delegation of senior Pentagon officials led by Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll.
The Trump administration has informed Ukraine of the plan it drafted with Russia and several of the points in it, but it has not sought Kyiv’s input, according to the senior Ukrainian official. The administration’s talks with Russia were first reported by Axios.
Zelensky is seeking to restart the diplomatic push as he faces a sweeping corruption scandal that threatens his ability to push war-related matters through parliament. In Kyiv, Russia’s renewed push for a settlement on its terms is seen as an attempt to exert pressure on Ukraine’s government as it reels from the scandal, the Ukrainian official said.
Setbacks on the battlefield are also weakening Ukraine’s leverage in peace talks. Pokrovsk, a strategic city in the eastern Donetsk region, is on the verge of falling into Russian hands.
A delegation of senior US military officials arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday for talks with Ukrainian officials as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to break the impasse, according to a Defense Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks.
Driscoll and two four-star generals were set to meet with Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials over the next two days, as well as top military and industry representatives, and Driscoll plans to meet with Russian representatives at a later date, the official said.
Trump’s decision to send Driscoll and top Army officers reflects a belief that the Kremlin might be more receptive to negotiations brokered by military leaders, according to the Defense Department official. Driscoll’s trip was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
It was unclear if Driscoll was bringing a formal Trump administration proposal or outline, the Defense Department official said, adding that Driscoll would report back to the White House on his discussions.
Driscoll, a former Army platoon leader in the Iraq War, is being accompanied by General Randy George, the Army chief of staff, and General Christopher Donahue, the commander of Army forces in Europe. Donahue has been a pivotal figure over the past several years in sending arms and equipment to Ukraine.
The US delegation is also expected to discuss battlefield developments and Ukrainian weapons production — the purpose of a trip that Driscoll had previously scheduled, the Defense Department official said. But Driscoll was called to the White House last week with his new assignment and an added priority to the trip: help end the war.
Responding to a question about a US-Russian proposal for ending the war, Dmitry S. Peskov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, said that “there has been nothing new in addition to what was discussed in Anchorage.”
Zelensky said Wednesday that Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine showed that the pressure on Moscow had been insufficient to force it to end the war, and he called for more military support.
On Tuesday, Ukraine attacked Russia using the American-made Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, Russian and Ukrainian officials said.
The latest attacks on Ukraine further raised tensions in neighboring countries. Romania’s Defense Ministry said it had scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone entered its territory early Wednesday. NATO warplanes also scrambled to safeguard Polish airspace, the Polish air force said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.