Russian drone strike kills 4 in Kyiv region, missiles hit Zaporizhzhia, Odesa

March 22 (UPI) -- Ukrainian officials on Wednesday said Russian forces launched a new wave of attacks in various locations, killing four people in a drone strike south of Kyiv.

Ukrainian state emergency services said that the attack struck two dormitories in the city of Rzhyschiv, partially destroying a building, killing four people and injuring at least 20 more as others were likely left trapped under rubble.

Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 21 drones and that 16 were intercepted by its air defenses.

"Over 20 Iranian murderous drones, plus missiles, numerous shelling occasions, and that's just in one last night of Russian terror against Ukraine. Every time someone tries to hear the word 'peace' in Moscow, another order is given there for such strikes," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Wednesday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Telegram that defense forces repelled 114 Russian attacks in the past day as Russia went on the offense in Lymansky Bakhmuutsky, Avdiivskyi, Marinskyi, and Shakhtarskyi, while continuing its defense elsewhere.

"Over the past day, the occupiers launched 10 rocket and 32 air strikes, as well as carried out 90 attacks from rocket salvo systems, in particular on civilian objects," it said.

Zelensky also tweeted a clip showing a Russian strike on the apartment block in Zaporizhzhia, as fire crews arrived to douse flames that covered the building.

"Russia is shelling the city with bestial savagery. Residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at. The terrorist state seeks to destroy four cities, our state, our people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Facebook.

In Odesa, military officials said a missile struck a Russian-affiliated monastery, while Russian drones hit infrastructure in the Zhytomyr region.

The latest strikes come shortly after an explosion in Russian-occupied Crimea destroyed what Ukrainian officials have described as a shipment of Kalibr NK cruise missiles, of the type that is used by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Also this week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, After the meeting the Russian and Chinese sides released a joint statement focused heavily on Ukraine.

The joint statement condemned "bloc confrontation," in an apparent attempt to blame NATO for the escalation and made no mention of withdrawing Russian forces from Ukrainian territory.