By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Marrow (Reuters) -Russian leader Vladimir Putin told Iran's president over the phone on Friday that Moscow condemned Israeli actions against Tehran, and in a separate telephone conversation told Israel's prime minister that only diplomacy could resolve issues around Iran's nuclear programme.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday after Israel hit Iran in a series of strikes.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Israeli strikes on Iran and its nuclear facilities were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter. "Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state,

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that drones had played a major role in the conflict in Ukraine and called for the rapid development and deployment of separate drone forces within the military.

Russian combat drones again carried out strikes overnight into Friday on Ukrainian targets, bombing areas around Sumy and Donetsk, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Friday. Air raid alerts sounded in eastern Ukraine,