Ukraine war: Three dead as Russia launches new attack on cities

BBC News:

Russian forces have attacked several Ukrainian cities, killing at least three people in a drone strike on a residential area of Kyiv region.

Upper floors of two residential buildings were hit early on Wednesday in the city of Rzhyshchiv, on the outskirts of the capital.

An 11-year-old was among the victims, rescue services said.

Separately, officials in Russian-annexed Crimea said a Ukrainian drone attack their fleet had been repulsed.

Explosions were reported by residents in the port city of Sevastopol.

The head of Russia’s occupation authority Mikhail Razvozhaev said three “objects” targeting the Black Sea Fleet had been destroyed and Russian warships were not damaged.

There was no comment from Ukraine’s military, which said earlier this week it had destroyed missiles destined for the fleet at a rail hub in Dzhankoi in northern Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched more than 20 “killer drones”, as well as missiles and shells.

Referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s departure from Russia hours earlier, he said that every time the word “peace” was uttered in Moscow, another order was given to launch attacks.

https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.47.3/iframe.htmlMedia caption,

Watch: Putin and Xi’s ‘Dear friendship’… in 62 seconds

On Tuesday President Vladimir Putin said that many provisions of a 12-point Chinese peace plan “can be taken as the basis for settling of the conflict in Ukraine, whenever the West and Kyiv are ready for it”.

The plan makes no specific proposals and does not call explicitly for Russian forces to leave Ukraine’s sovereign territory.