Ukraine needs long-range weapons to protect its cities and troops on the frontline from Russian bombs and drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today after a massive overnight drone and missile attack.
Russia launched its fifth drone attack on Kyiv in two weeks overnight, with Ukraine's air defence systems destroying all their weapons before they reached the capital, Ukraine's military said.
Ukraine's air force said on Telegram that its air defence systems destroyed 35 of the 39 drones and two cruise missiles that Russia had launched overnight. The weapons, the air force said, targeted 10 of Ukraine's regions.
It was not immediately clear how many drones were launched at Kyiv. There were no casualties and no significant damage reported, Serhiy Popko, head of the Ukrainian capital's military administration, said on Telegram.
"During last night alone, the Russian army used almost 40 'Shaheds' against Ukraine. Importantly, most of them were shot down by our defenders of the sky," Mr Zelensky said on Telegram, referring to the drones.
He said it was necessary to destroy Russian bombers at Russian air bases to protect Ukraine from air raids.
"Our sufficient long-range capabilities should be a fair response to Russian terror. Everyone who supports us in this supports the defence against terror," Mr Zelensky said.
He renewed his call for Western allies to allow long-range strikes on Russia on Friday in London, saying Britain should try to convince its partners to remove the limits on their use.
NATO members have taken different approaches to how Ukraine can use weapons they donate.
Some have made clear Kyiv can use them to strike targets inside Russia while the United States has taken a narrower approach, allowing its weapons to be used only just inside Russia's border against targets supporting Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Russia launched three Iskander ballistic missiles, Ukraine's air force said, without saying what happened to them.
The military administration of the Sumy region, in Ukraine's northeast bordering Russia, said on Telegram that a Russian missile damaged critical infrastructure in the Shostkynskyi district of the region.
The administration did not provide detail on what infrastructure was hit.
There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow has previously said it does not attack civilian targets in Ukraine.
Russia says it has captured two villages in east Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russia said that its forces had captured two frontline villages in Ukraine today, Andriivka in the eastern Lugansk region and Pishchane in the northeast Kharkiv region.
The two villages are less than 20kms (12 miles) from each other on a section of the frontline where Moscow has made grinding advances in recent weeks.
Russian army units "liberated" the settlements of Andriivka and Pishchane "as well as occupied more favourable lines and positions," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Andriivka, a village of less than 20 people, was one of the last settlements in the eastern Lugansk region that Kyiv still controlled and had been a key target for Moscow.
Pishchane has also been in the Kremlin's sights because its capture could pave the way for Russia to reach the Oskil river that lies about 10 kilometres away, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
Moscow claims to have taken a string of villages and settlements, many consisting of no more than a few streets and a handful of abandoned buildings, in recent weeks.
Neither side has been able to achieve a decisive breakthrough and both Moscow and Kyiv say they are inflicting heavy casualties on the other, almost two and a half years after Russia launched its offensive.
