KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine faced more Russian drone attacks Wednesday, March 22, 2023, that killed at least three people shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Kyiv.

Kishida was back in Poland Wednesday morning, according to Japan’s Kyodo News, and is expected to return to Japan Thursday, March 23.

Kishida’s surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital stole some of the attention from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s trip to Moscow where he promoted Beijing’s peace proposal for Ukraine, which Western nations have already dismissed. Xi left Moscow early Wednesday.

Early Wednesday, Ukraine faced a new series of Russian drone attacks, which killed at least three people and damaged some infrastructure across the country.

The rival visits by Xi and Kishida, about 800 kilometers apart, highlighted how countries are lining up behind Moscow or Kyiv during the nearly 13-month-old war. Kishida, who will chair the Group of Seven summit in May, became the group’s last member to visit Ukraine and meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after paying tribute to those killed in Bucha, a town that became a symbol of Russian atrocities against civilians.

Xi’s visit gave a strong political boost to Russian President Vladimir Putin just days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on charges of alleged involvement in abductions of thousands of children from Ukraine. (AP)