Ukrainian officials said dozens of people were injured when Russian missiles struck a shopping and entertainment complex in the battered northeastern city of Kharkiv, while authorities in Moscow reported damage to industrial sites following a massive drone strike on the Russian capital.
After the Kharkiv strike on September 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy again pleaded with allies to allow his forces to deploy Western-provided missiles deeper across the border to reduce Russia’s ability to strike at Ukrainian civilian sites.
“Russia terrorizes Kharkiv again. Strikes on civilian infrastructure,” he wrote on Telegram.
“All the necessary forces of the world must be involved in order to stop this terror. This does not require extraordinary forces, but sufficient courage of the leaders -- courage to give Ukraine everything it needs for protection.”
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Russian Missiles Rupture Gas Pipe, Wound Dozens In Kharkiv
The barrage comes just days after Ukraine's energy infrastructure was targeted by over 200 Russian drones and missiles in one of the biggest such attacks. On September 1, Ukraine reported more Russian attacks in its eastern and southeastern regions.
It is also nearly a month since Ukraine went on the offensive in Russia's Kursk region, even as Russian troops are reported to be making advances in eastern Ukraine, especially in the Donetsk region.
Kyiv is urging Washington to lift restrictions on using allied-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russia. Ukraine argues such strikes would greatly impede Moscow’ s ability to continue its attacks on Ukraine.
Senior officials from Zelenskiy's administration were in Washington last week, appealing to the United States for what Zelenskiy called, "capabilities to truly and fully" protect the country.
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The Russian Defense Ministry, quoted by the state-run TASS news agency, said 158 drones had been destroyed by the country’s air-defense systems. The ministry said on Telegram that the highest number -- 122 -- were downed over the regions of Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh and Belgorod, which border Ukraine.
It was not possible to independently confirm the Russian reports.
In his Telegram post, Zelenskiy did not confirm the drone attacks directly but said that “it is only fair that Ukrainians can respond to Russian terror exactly as necessary to stop it. Every day and every night our cities and villages are under enemy attack."
Early on September 1, loud blasts were reported near the Konakovo Power Station in the Tver region, one of the largest regional energy producers, according to the Baza Telegram news channel, which is close to Russia’s security services.
Five drones were destroyed over the Tver region, according to Igor Rudenya, the regional governor. He did not mention possible damage.
A Ukraine-launched drone was destroyed near the Moscow Oil Refinery, said the Russian capital's mayor, Sergei Sobyanin. There was no damage or threat to the refinery's production process, he said.
The refinery is owned by Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom.
Ukraine also allegedly attempted to strike the Kashira Power Plant in the Moscow region with three drones, Mikhail Shuvalov, the head of the Kashira city district said on Telegram. There was no fire, damage or casualties as a result of the attack, he said.
"Electricity is being supplied without problems," Shuvalov said.
At least nine drones were destroyed in Moscow and in the surrounding region, Sobyanin said.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the head of Russia’s Belgorod region near the border, claimed that 11 people were injured, including two children, by Ukrainian shelling.
Some 26 Ukraine-launched drones were destroyed over the border region of Bryansk in Russia's southwest, the region's governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz, said on Telegram.
More than 10 drones were destroyed over the Voronezh region and several were downed over the Kursk, Lipetsk, Ryazan and Tula regions, the governors of these regions said, according to Reuters.
No injuries or damage were reported as a result of the attacks. Russia rarely discloses the full extent of damage caused by Ukrainian air attacks.
In Ukraine overnight, eight drones were shot down out of 11 launched by Russia, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
One person was killed and four wounded in shelling in the Sumy region, local officials said, while in Kharkiv 13 people were wounded in intermittent shelling during the day, according to regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov.