Russian drones kill four at student dormitory near Kyiv

Russia launched exploding drones that killed at least four people at a student dormitory near Kyiv before dawn Wednesday just hours after Japans prime minister left the Ukrainian capital following a show of support for the country and as Chinese leader Xi Jinping left Moscow after discussing his proposal for ending the war was rejected by the West as a nonstarterA high school and two dormitories were partially destroyed in an overnight drone attack in the city of Rzhyshchiv south of the Ukrainian capital local officials said It wasnt clear how many people were in the dormitories at the timeThe body of a 40yearold man was pulled from the rubble on a dormitorys fifth floor according to regional police chief Andrii Nebytov More than 20 people were hospitalised Nebytov said and a few others were unaccounted forUkrainian air defences downed 16 of the 21 drones launched by Russia the Ukraine General Staff said Eight of them were shot down near the capital according to the citys military administration Other drone attacks struck centralwestern Khmelnytskyi provinceThe drone barrage and other Russian overnight attacks that struck civilian infrastructure drew a scathing response from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a day after Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Chinas proposals for negotiating an end to the warOver 20 Iranian murderous drones plus missiles numerous shelling occasions and thats just in one last night of Russian terror Zelenskyy wrote in English on TwitterEvery time someone tries to hear the word peace in Moscow another order is given there for such criminal strikes he wroteJapanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who is the current chair of the Group of Seven countries made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday throwing his support behind Zelenskyys government as his Asian rival Xi sided with PutinAfter returning to Poland Wednesday morning Kishida said he had expressed the unwavering determination of solidarity of Japan and G7 to Ukraine during his talks with ZelenskyyAlso read Ukraine hints it hit Russian missiles in occupied CrimeaKishidas visit to Ukraine was very meaningful for Japans future support for that country Japans top government spokesman said WednesdayThrough Prime Minister Kishidas visit to Ukraine Japan was able to show not only to other members of the G7 but also the international society including the Global South nations its determination to defend the rulesbased international society Hirokazu Matsuno saidKishidas visit snatched away some of the attention from Xis trip to Moscow where he promoted Beijings peace proposal for Ukraine which Western nations had already dismissed as a way to consolidate Moscows gains Xi left Moscow early Wednesday The visits by Xi and Kishida about 800 kilometres 500 miles apart highlighted how countries are lining up behind Moscow or Kyiv during the nearly 13monthold warIn a joint statement Russia and China emphasised the need to respect legitimate security concerns of all countries to settle the conflict echoing Moscows argument that it sent in troops to prevent the US and its NATO allies from turning the country into an antiRussian bulwarkKishida by contrast called Russias invasion a disgrace that undermines the foundations of the international legal order and pledged to continue to support Ukraine until peace is back on the beautiful Ukrainian landsUkraines finance ministry said Wednesday said it has agreed with the International Monetary Fund on a USD 156 billion loan package aimed at shoring up Kyivs finances Russias invasion has crippled the economy and Ukrainian officials hope the IMF deal will encourage their allies to provide financial support tooThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever