Ukraine attacks Russian territory with 114 drones as US gives Kyiv priority for Patriots

Hundreds of Ukrainian attack drones have been used against Russian military targets, marking one of the most significant operations of its type in the conflict.

More than 100 UAVs (uncrewed aerial vehicles) were used in one night to attack Russian territory, although the country's MOD insisted the attack was successfully repelled.

The attack came shortly after the United States announced it would be delaying deliveries of Patriot missile systems to other buyers to give Ukraine priority.

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Ukraine said 114 attack drones were used in the aerial assault.

But the Russian MOD claimed 70 drones were shot down over Crimea, with another 43 being downed over the Krasnodar Territory.

Another attack drone was reportedly shot down over the Volgograd Region in southern Russia, Moscow said.

It also said Russian aircraft destroyed six uncrewed attack boats in the Black Sea.

The US, which announced that Ukraine would receive a further $61bn (£49bn) in military aid in April, has now said that deliveries of Patriot missile systems will be sent to Ukraine as a priority over other countries.

Reportedly, the Pentagon has confirmed that these US-supplied weapons can be used to fire across the border into Russia.

Earlier this week, Russia began targeting Ukrainian air bases, apparently to prevent them from benefiting from their new F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said: "The White House today announced that it was directing American contractors to ship AMRAAM and Patriot weapons, missiles that were earmarked for foreign customers, other foreign customers, to Ukraine, giving them the priority.

"What role does the Pentagon have in this directive in implementing this directive or overseeing the shift of missiles from FMS [foreign military sales] customers to Ukraine?

"The planned resequencing of planned deliveries.

"We're working closely with industry on the appropriate contracting actions from this resequencing to ensure that we're able to continue to support our security assistance requirements.

"[The US is] going to make sure that not only are we supporting Ukraine, but that we're continuing to keep on track with those FMS deliveries as quickly as possible."