Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Russia launches drone strikes on Ukraine as Xi leaves Moscow

Russia launched a swarm of drones into Ukraine overnight, killing at least four people near Kyiv in a display of force as China's President Xi Jinping left Moscow with promises of friendship but little public mention of the war.

Russia launched a swarm of drones into Ukraine overnight, killing at least four people near Kyiv in a display of force as China's President Xi Jinping left Moscow with promises of friendship but little public mention of the war. FIGHTING

* President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Ukrainian troops near the frontline city of Bakhmut and handed out medals, his office said. * British military intelligence said there was a possibility that the Russian assault on Bakhmut was losing steam.

* Zelenskiy said the drone strike near Kyiv showed Moscow was not interested in peace. * The Russian-backed administration in Sevastopol said it had suspended ferry routes around the Crimean port city, shortly after its governor said a Ukrainian drone attack had been repelled by air defences.

* Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the modernisation of Moscow's air defence system would be completed this year, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported. * Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.

RUSSIA-CHINA * Putin and Xi discussed a major new infrastructure project, Power-of-Siberia 2, to deliver gas to China via Mongolia. However, China is not expected to need additional gas supply until after 2030, experts say.

* During his two-day visit Xi barely mentioned the Ukraine conflict beyond saying China had an "impartial position". * Zelenskiy said Kyiv had suggested to China that it join a Ukrainian peace formula but it was still waiting for an answer.

* If China wants to play a constructive role in Ukraine, Xi should urge Russia to end its invasion, the White House said. * Russia and China said their relationship had reached its highest level but that it was not directed against any other country and did not constitute a "military-political alliance".

AID/DIPLOMACY * Rebuilding Ukraine's economy is now expected to cost $411 billion, 2.6 times Ukraine's expected 2022 gross domestic product, a new study by the World Bank, United Nations, European Commission and Ukraine found.

* The International Monetary Fund said it has reached a staff-level agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6 billion to help its economic recovery. * Britain said there was no nuclear escalation in the Ukraine war after Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised Britain for supplying depleted uranium tank munitions to Ukrainian forces.

* Russia said a division of its Bastion coastal defence missile systems had been deployed to Paramushir, one of the Kuril islands in the north Pacific, some of which Japan claims as its territory. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Kyiv on Tuesday. * The United States plans to speed up the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a Pentagon official said, providing the vital equipment as soon as this autumn.

QUOTE "Now there are changes that haven't happened in 100 years. When we are together, we drive these changes," Xi told Putin before leaving Moscow.

"I really feel great anger at the atrocity upon visiting that very place here," Japan's Kishida said while visiting Bucha. 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)