Russia launched exploding drones that killed at least four people at a student dormitory near Kyiv before dawn Wednesday, just hours after Japan's 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 non-starter.
A 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 wasn't clear how many people were in the dormitories at the time.
The body of a 40-year-old man was pulled from the rubble on a dormitory's fifth floor, according to regional police chief Andrii Nebytov.
More than 20 people were hospitalised, Nebytov said, and a few others were unaccounted for.
Ukrainian 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 city's military administration. Other drone attacks struck central-western Khmelnytskyi province.
The 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 China's proposals for negotiating an end to the war.