Ukraine launches drones on Moscow, other regions, Russian officials say

(Reuters) -Ukraine launched overnight drone attacks on Moscow and several other targets across Russia on Sunday, regional officials said, as Kyiv presses the United States for permission to use allies-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia.

At least five drones flying towards Moscow were destroyed in the region surrounding the Russian capital, Moscow’s Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in posts on the Telegram messaging app.

Some 26 Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over the border region of Bryansk in Russia’s southwest, the region’s governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram.

More than 10 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region and several more were downed over Kursk, Lipetsk, Ryazan and Tula regions, governors of the regions said in posts on Telegram.

There were no injuries or damage as a result of the attacks, according to preliminary information. Russia rarely discloses the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukraine’s air attacks.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

As Ukraine’s domestic drone industry grows rapidly, Kyiv has been stepping up its attacks, striking energy, military and transport infrastructure – sectors that are vital to Moscow’s war efforts.

Kyiv says, however, that it needs to be allowed to use more powerful Western-supplied weapons to inflict greater damage inside Russia and impair Moscow’s abilities to continue with its relentless attacks on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s senior officials were in Washington last week, appealing to the United States for what Zelenskiy called, “capabilities to truly and fully” protect the country.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne, Editing by Deepa Babington and Michael Perry)