Ukrainian President Zelenskyy claims missiles, drones hit civilian buildings

Ukraines president posted a video on Wednesday showing what he said was a Russian missile slamming into an apartment building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia after Russia launched launched exploding drones that killed at least four people at a student dormitory near Kyiv before dawnJust hours earlier Japans prime minister left the Ukrainian capital following a show of support for the countryThe same day Chinese leader Xi Jinping left Moscow after discussing his proposal for ending the war which has been rejected by the West as a nonstarterThe video posted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Telegram appeared to be CCTV footage that captured the moment a missile hit the ninestory residential block by a busy roadUkrainian media carried pictures showing charred apartments on several stories of the affected buildings and flames billowing from some of them The number of causalities was unknownHowever Vladimir Rogov an official with the Moscowappointed regional administration for the Russiaoccupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region claimed the building was hit by a Ukrainian air defence missile that was launched to intercept a Russian missileHe didnt cite offer any evidence to back up his claimRussia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes hit apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure on a daily basisRussian officials have blamed Ukrainian air defences for some of the deadliest strikes on apartment buildings in the past charging that the deployment of air defense systems in residential areas puts civilians at riskAn overnight drone attack partially destroyed a high school and two dormitories 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 NebytovAlso readKashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj remanded to 10 days NIA custody RSF demands immediate releaseMore than 20 people were hospitalized Nebytov said and a few others were unaccounted forUkrainian air defences downed 16 of the 21 drones launched by Russia the Ukraine General Staff saidEight 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 ZelenskyyKishidas visit to Ukraine was very meaningful for Japans future support for that country Japans top government spokesman said on 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 gainsXi left Moscow early WednesdayThe 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 emphasized 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 on Wednesday said it has agreed with the International Monetary Fund on a USD 156 billion loan package aimed at shoring up Kyivs financesRussias 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