Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack across the country, causing a significant number of killed and injured

Russia launched a large-scale overnight strike on multiple Ukrainian regions on Nov. 19, killing at least 25 civilians and injuring 122, while causing extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and triggering emergency power outages nationwide.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia fired 476 attack drones and 48 missiles, including 47 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 442 drones, 34 Kh-101 cruise missiles, and seven Kalibr cruise missiles. However, seven missiles and 34 drones hit 14 locations, while debris from intercepted weapons fell on six additional sites.

In Ternopil, the strike directly hit a nine-story residential building. Multiple cruise missiles—reports indicate at least nine—struck the same nine-story residential building within minutes, ripping off the upper floors and setting apartments ablaze.

The attack killed at least 19 people, including one child, and injured 64 others, among them 14 children. Rescue workers continued searching the rubble for survivors as fires burned and heavy smoke hung over the city. There is a possibility that the death toll will grow as the rescue team keeps working at the scene.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the deliberate targeting of a civilian apartment block far from any military objective as a war crime. The assault on Ternopil was part of a wider overnight barrage that also hit Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.

Ternopil is a city in the West of Ukraine, a remote place from the front line and is considered as one of the safest places in Ukraine in the time of war.

Ternopil is a city in western Ukraine, a remote place from the front line, and is considered one of the safest places in Ukraine during wartime.

In Lviv, the strikes damaged an energy facility, sparking a massive fire that engulfed a woodworking business and a nearby warehouse, where burning tires produced thick plumes of smoke visible over the city. Explosions echoed through the area, prompting emergency power outages across Lviv Oblast to stabilize the grid amid the nationwide disruptions. Fortunately, no casualties were reported from the Lviv attack itself, though rescuers and firefighters worked amid the flames to contain the blaze and assess further damage.

In Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, western Ukraine, Russian missiles and drones struck energy facilities and critical infrastructure, exacerbating nationwide power outages. The attacks damaged ten houses in the village of Verbylivtsi and targeted broader utility networks, leading to emergency blackouts affecting thousands of residents. Three people were injured in the strikes, including two children, with firefighters and rescuers working to mitigate fires and restore services amid the ongoing threat from intercepted drones.

In the Shepetivka district of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Russian drones hit the power lines, leaving nearly 2,000 people across 27 settlements without electricity. The strikes caused significant disruptions to local power distribution but spared residential and civilian areas from direct hits, with no casualties reported.

Russian drones slammed into Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city near the Russian border. They hit crowded residential neighborhoods, smashing a nine-story apartment building, a children’s hospital, a school, an ambulance station, and at least 16 other homes and businesses. Windows were blown out, fires broke out in apartments, and debris littered the streets. 46 people were injured, including two young girls (ages 9 and 13), but no one was killed. Rescue teams and medics rushed to help residents and put out the fires while the city’s mayor called it deliberate terror against civilians.

Dnipro, also came under heavy fire from Russian drones and missiles as part of the this overnight attack. Explosions rocked the city, damaging residential buildings, a public broadcaster's newsroom and radio studio, railway infrastructure, and over 20 vehicles, while sparking multiple fires that emergency crews rushed to contain. Ukrainian officials reported no fatalities in Dnipro itself from this assault, but at least a dozen people were injured by shrapnel and blast waves, with disruptions rippling through local train services and power grids. Rescue operations continued amid the debris, as the city braced for potential aftershocks in the ongoing war.

Dnipro is a major industrial city in central-eastern Ukraine, frequently suffering from Russian attacks.

In Poltava oblast, Russian missiles and drones struck the central part, hitting a key energy substation and sparking a fire that threatened nearby farmland and villages. The blasts caused widespread outages affecting over 10,000 residents, including the city of Poltava itself, and secondary explosions from fuel storage ignited fields, forcing road closures. Two people were lightly injured by flying glass and treated on-site, while firefighters contained the blaze after hours of effort.

Parliament has fired the minister involved in Ukraine's biggest corruption scandal

Ukraine’s parliament on November 19 approved the resignation of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who has been implicated in a large-scale corruption scheme at the state nuclear energy company Energoatom.

Halushchenko submitted his resignation on Nov. 12 after President Volodymyr Zelensky called on him to step down. He is under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) as part of the Energoatom case, considered the largest corruption probe of Zelensky’s presidency.

Eight suspects have been charged so far, and Timur Mindich — a close associate of Zelensky — is allegedly the ringleader.

Russia has recruited 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries to fight against Ukraine

At least 18,000 foreign nationals from 128 countries have fought or are still fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine, and 3,388 of them have been killed, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Brigadier General Dmytro Usov said Russia began building a global recruitment network in 2023 to make up for heavy losses. Monthly contracts signed by foreign citizens grew from hundreds to thousands. Most recruits are motivated by money, though many were deceived or coerced.

Ukraine currently holds POWs from 37 countries who fought for Russia. Usov said Russia has shown no interest in exchanging these foreign fighters, except for North Korean citizens.

He added that Ukraine has slowed Russia’s international recruitment through coordinated efforts by multiple Ukrainian agencies and promised continued work to bring Ukrainian POWs home.