(Adds Zelenskiy's comments in paragraphs 1, 6-9, background

paragraph 10)

       KYIV, July 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine needs long-range

weapons to protect its cities and troops on the frontline from

Russian bombs and drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr

Zelenskiy said on Sunday 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 the

air 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 the 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," Zelenskiy 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," Zelenskiy said.

    Zelenskiy 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 says it does not attack civilian targets in

Ukraine.

    "These systematic attacks ... with drones, once again prove

that the invader is actively looking for an opportunity to

strike Kyiv," Popko said. "They're testing new tactics, looking

for new approach routes to the capital, trying to expose the

location of our air defence."

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Pavel Polityuk in

Kyiv; Editing by Sandra Maler, William Mallard and Alison

Williams)

((lidia.kelly@thomsonreuters.com;))