Ukraine's leaders have renewed calls on Western allies to increase deliveries of heavy weapons as 32 kamikaze drones from Russia attacked Kyiv overnight into Sunday.

Air defenses shot down 25 of the attack drones with debris falling in several districts, damaging an apartment in a multi-story building, as well as road surfaces and power lines, Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.

Popko added that one person was injured.

Russia also said Sunday that it destroyed three military speedboats carrying Ukrainian soldiers in the Black Sea which Moscow claims were headed toward annexed Crimea.

The attacks follow President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement in a cabinet conference on Saturday that slow weapons deliveries were hindering his troops' counter offensive.

New Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also called for more heavy weapons during the same conference.

"We need them today. We need them now," he said.

"Ukrainian warriors today are sacrificing their lives for the core values of democracy and freedom. They need back up from you, dear partners. And this back up is weapons," Umerov added.

Deputy Intelligence Chief Vadym Skibitsky said Saturday that more than 420,000 Russian soldiers are deployed in occupied territories in the east and south of Ukraine.

The figure "does not include the Russian National Guard and other special units that maintain occupation authorities on our territories," he said.

Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western weapons, but has made limited gains as its troops encounter heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

Meanwhile, Russia's forces in Ukraine have organized several days of voting in four regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — that Moscow claims to have annexed.

Hastily arranged mobile booths have been placed despite a gruelling Ukrainian counteroffensive and amid widespread reports that locals have been forced to take up Russian passports.

Kyiv has denounced it as a sham and called on allies to condemn the "fake" vote. Its SBU security service warned it has a list of "collaborators" helping organize the voting, promising punishment.

But Kremlin-installed officials pressed on with the vote, seeking long-term office in areas Kyiv has vowed to re-capture.

WITH AFP