Here are the key events from day 1,365 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Published On 20 Nov 2025
Here is how things stand on Thursday, November 20:
Fighting
- At least 26 people were confirmed killed and trapped under the rubble of a destroyed building in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil after it was hit in a Russian strike, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a post on Telegram, adding that searches to recover the bodies continued.
- Almost 100 people were reportedly injured in the attack on Ternopil, which Klymenko said covered the apartment building in a “wave of fire”.
- The Ukrainian air force reported that Russian forces used a Kh-101 cruise missile to attack the apartment building, noting that the weapon “contains components and accessories manufactured by companies in particular from the USA, China, Taiwan, Germany and others”.
- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine will bring “Russia’s horrific murder” in Ternopil to the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling for “condemnation, justice, and strong responses”.
Ukraine will bring Russia’s horrific murder of at least 25 people, including 3 children, in Ternopil to the spotlight of tomorrow’s UN Security Council meeting.
We urge condemnation, justice, and strong responses.
We have already addressed all of our partners and international… https://t.co/Ns89sQvM0P
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) November 19, 2025
- Russian shelling injured at least 46 people, including two children, in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv over the past day, Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, wrote in a post on Telegram.
- A Ukrainian attack killed a civilian in a Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, Russian-installed Governor Vladimir Saldo said, according to TASS, Russia’s state news agency.
- The Ukrainian air force reported that it shot down 476 Russian drones and 48 missiles on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
- Russian forces shot down 93 Ukrainian drones and four missiles in a 24-hour period, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said, according to TASS.
Ceasefire
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, where previous mediated talks on a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia have been hosted by Turkish officials.
- Speaking alongside Erdogan, Zelenskyy said Ukraine hopes to revive prisoner of war exchanges with Russia by the end of the year.
- The Ukrainian president also said Erdogan proposed different formats for the potential resumption of talks with Russia “and it is important for us that [Turkiye] is ready to provide the necessary platform.”
- “The main thing for stopping the bloodshed and achieving lasting peace is that we work in coordination with all our partners and that American leadership remains effective, strong,” Zelenskyy added.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that there has been nothing new to announce on peace negotiations with Ukraine since the August summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump.
Regional security
- British Defence Minister John Healey said “military options” are ready should a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, become a threat after it directed lasers at British pilots sent to monitor its location north of Scotland.
- Rene Obermann, the chairman of the European aerospace company Airbus, told the Berlin Security Conference that some European countries should buy “tactical” nuclear weapons as a “sign of deterrence” after Russia’s positioning of Iskander missiles in the Russian city of Kaliningrad.
Sanctions
- Russian oil company Rosneft has reduced its stake in the Kurdistan Pipeline Company to less than 50 percent after talks aimed at protecting the subsidiary from US sanctions, an official in the government of the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq told the Reuters news agency.
Military aid
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said ongoing talks to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine would eventually lead to an agreement, including some domestic production, but no details would be communicated.
