RUSSIA LAUNCHING TWENTY ONE LETHAL ATTACK DRONES OVER NIGHT IN THE KYIV REGION, 16 OF WHICH WERE SHOT DOWN. BUT THESE ATTACKS CAME JUST AFTER CHINESE LEADER XI JINPING HAD LEFT MOSCOW AFTER A THREE DAY TRIP WHERE HE MET WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN. AND APPARENTLY THE TWO LEADERS PROCLAIMED THAT THEY WANTED TO MAKE PEACE IN UKRAINE. >> FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT TOM SOUFI BURRIDGE HAS THE LATEST FROM KYIV, JOINS US LIVE NOW. SO, TOM , SO MUCH FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF A PEACE DEAL . YEAH, I MEAN, LOOK, THERE WAS A WAVE OF ATTACKS, REALLY JUST MOMENTS AFTER THAT KEY SUMMIT BETWEEN PRESIDENT XI AND PRESIDENT PUTIN. THE CHINESE AND RUSSIAN LEADERS . AND ACTUALLY, SHE WAS REALLY STILL IN MOSCOW WHEN THE EXPLOSION STARTED HERE. WE HAD AIR RAID SIRENS ACROSS THE COUNTRY LATE LAST NIGHT INTO THE MORNING AT THE MOST BRAZEN ATTACK IN THE SOUTHERN CITY OF ZACHARY KIESCH, A MISSILE STRIKING AN APARTMENT BUILDING, KILLING THREE , INJURING NEARLY 20 PEOPLE. TWO OF THEM SERIOUSLY, INCLUDING CHILDREN INJURED IN THAT ATTACK. AND WE ALSO HAD DRONE THOSE LETHAL IRANIAN MADE DRONES LAUNCHED BY RUSSIA, POSSIBLY FROM BELARUS IN THE NORTH AND DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE SAW CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE HIT. AND SHE TOLD THEM IN THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY, BUT ALSO A TOWN TO THE SOUTH EAST OF KYIV HIT AN APARTMENT BLOCK, HIT THERE, AT LEAST SEVEN PEOPLE KILLED. NOW, THE RUSSIANS ARE SAYING THAT UKRAINIAN MILITARY PERSONNEL WERE IN THAT APARTMENT BLOCK. THE UKRAINIANS ARE DENYING THAT. AND ONCE AGAIN, PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY REACTING QUITE STRONGLY, SAYING THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW RUSSIA IS , IN HIS WORDS, A TERRORIST STATE. >> SO HOW ZELENSKYY RESPONDING TO ALL THIS NOW? WELL, I THINK IT'S A STRONG REACTION. PRESIDENT SAYING ONCE AGAIN, THIS IS A BRAZEN ATTACK AND HE'S CALLING ON THE WORLD TO STAND UP TO RUSSIA EVEN MORE . HE'S SAYING THIS SHOULD NOT BECOME JUST A NORMAL DAY IN UKRAINE, A NORMAL DAY IN EUROPE. AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, HAVING COVERED THIS WAR FOR THE LAST YEAR, WE'RE USED TO THESE KIND OF DAYS. WE'RE USED TO THE AIR RAID SIRENS GOING OFF. WE'RE USED TO A WAVE OF STRIKES, MISSILES AND DRONES HITTING TARGETS ACROSS UKRAINE IN UKRAINIAN CITIES. >> ALL RIGHT. SO A GROUP, MEANWHILE, OF 65 UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS ARE WRAPPING UP THEIR TRAINING ON THOSE PATRIOT SURFACE TO AIR MISSILE SYSTEMS. IN OKLAHOMA HERE IN THE STATES. WHEN CAN WE ACTUALLY SEE THEM DEPLOYED ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD AND USING THESE WEAPONS SYSTEMS ? YES. SIXTY FIVE UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS ARE TRAINING AT FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA. THAT TRAINING WRAPPING UP IN THE COMING DAYS, ACCORDING TO U.S. OFFICIALS AND THOSE U.S. OFFICIALS SAYING THAT THE FIRST US DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS WILL BE IN UKRAINE IN A MATTER OF WEEKS. AND THAT IS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT. IT'S A B BEYOND SCHEDULE. THEY ARE AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, AND THAT IS ACCORDING TO U.S. OFFICIALS, BECAUSE THOSE UKRAINIAN TROOPS ONCE AGAIN ARE PROVING ADEPT AT ADAPTING TO HIGHLY COMPLEX ADVANCED MILITARY SYSTEMS AND THAT THE PATRIOTS WILL MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I MEAN, PEOPLE SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THAT THE U.S. AND ITS ALLIES HAVE PROVIDED UKRAINE WITH AN ARRAY OF AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS. BUT THE PATRIOTS ARE RIGHT AT THE HIGH END. IT IS A COMPLEX SYSTEM. THE UKRAINIANS WILL HAVE TO DECIDE WHERE TO DEPLOY. FOR EXAMPLE, THEY COULD CHOOSE TO PLACE IT IN OR AROUND A CITY LIKE KYIV, AND THAT WOULD DRAMATICALLY BOLSTER THE DEFENSES OF THIS CITY. IT WOULD PROTECT KEY ASSETS. AND , OF COURSE, THAT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE POWER STATIONS, WHICH RUSSIA HAS BEEN TRYING TO STRIKE AGAIN AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT THE WINTER. BUT THANKFULLY FOR UKRAINIANS, THE TEMPERATURES ARE RISING NOW AS WE MOVE INTO SPRING. >> ALL RIGHT. AND NOW WHAT ARE WE LEARNING ABOUT THESE FRESH DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIAN OCCUPIED CRIMEA ? THESE ARE THOSE WATER, WATER BORNE DRONES YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT. YEAH, I MEAN, THIS IS INTERESTING, KYRA. I MEAN, WE'VE HAD AERIAL DRONE ATTACKS FROM THE UKRAINIANS INTO CRIMEA WITHIN THE LAST 48 HOURS, WITHIN THE LAST 24 HOURS, WE'RE SEEING EVIDENCE THAT THERE WERE EXPLOSIONS IN CRIMEA. THE RUSSIANS ARE SAYING THESE WERE WATER BORNE DRONES. WE'VE SEEN PREVIOUS ATTACKS PROBABLY BY THE UKRAINIANS. THE UKRAINIANS OFTEN DON'T CLAIM THESE TYPES OF ATTACKS, BUT USING THESE WATER-BORNE DRONES, WHICH WE BELIEVE THE UKRAINIANS DEVELOPED THEMSELVES, THE RUSSIANS ARE SAYING THIS TIME NONE OF THEIR ASSETS WERE HIT IN AND AROUND CRIMEA. BUT I THINK PEOPLE NEED TO REALIZE THAT THE CRIMEAN PENINSULA HAS A KIND OF SACRED STATUS FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN. AND HIS REGIME. IT WAS ANNEXED ILLEGALLY BY THE RUSSIANS BACK IN 2014. SO IT IS A CONTENTIOUS AREA. AND PEOPLE SHOULD REALIZE THAT BEFORE THE FULL SCALE INVASION LAST FEBRUARY, CRIMEA WAS A PRETTY SAFE PLACE FOR RUSSIANS TO LIVE. IT ISN'T NOW. AND THESE EXPLOSIONS REALLY NOT ONLY HAVE A MILITARY, BUT ALSO