KYIV, Sept 01 (Reuters/AFP/BBC): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike military targets deep inside Russian territory after his representatives met senior US officials in Washington on Saturday.
Washington has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022, but has limited the use of its weapons to Ukrainian soil and defensive crossborder operations.
Zelensky said guided aerial bombs killed six people and injured 97 in Kharkiv on Friday, with more attacks on Saturday. These could be averted only "by striking Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics of Russian terror."
In his nightly video address, he said, "We talk about this every day with our partners. We persuade. We present arguments."
He said that clearing the Ukrainian sky of Russian guided aerial bombs would be "a strong step to force Russia to seek an end to the war and a just peace."
Appealing to the United States, Britain, France and Germany, he said, "We need the capabilities to truly and fully protect Ukraine and Ukrainians.
"We need both the permissions for long-range capabilities and your long-range shells and missiles." Without providing specifics, he said his representatives had "provided all the necessary details" to Ukraine's partners.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, in Washington with a delegation on Friday and Saturday to meet US officials and experts, said in an interview broadcast by CNN that Kyiv was showing Russian airfields used to hit Ukrainian cities were within range of deep strikes.
"We have explained what kind of capabilities we need to protect the citizens against the Russian terror that Russians are causing us, so I hope we were heard," Umerov said in the interview late on Friday.
Russia downs 158
Ukrainian drones
Russian air defences downed 158 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions overnight, including two over the capital Moscow, the defence ministry said Sunday.
The ministry said on Telegram that the highest number -- 122 -- were downed over the regions of Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh and Belgorod that border Ukraine.
Fires at Russian energy plants
after Ukraine drone attacks
Ukraine has launched a wave of overnight drone attacks on Russia, causing fires at two Russian energy facilities. According to Russia's defence ministry, more than 158 Ukrainian drones targeted 15 regions of the country, including the capital Moscow.
The Russian military claimed that these drones were intercepted and destroyed. But as a result of the attack a fire has broken out at an oil refinery in Moscow in a "separate technical room", the city's mayor said.
Sergei Sobyanin reported that at least 11 drones targeted the capital city and the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, 75 miles (120km) from the Russian capital, in the Tver region, loud blasts were heard close to the Konakovo Power Station.
Russian media are reporting a fire at the facility. The region's governor, Igor Rudenya, acknowledged a fire caused by an attack in Konakovsky district had been contained, without providing details of what was hit.
Local officials also said drones attempted to attack the Kashira Power Plant in the Moscow region - but that there were no fires, damage or casualties as a result.
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