Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine overnight, involving hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, a Ukrainian official said Sunday. The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that an F-16 fighter pilot died while trying to repel the attack. The jet was reportedly flown away from a populated area before crashing, leaving the pilot no time to eject.

The strike damaged homes and infrastructure across the country, injuring at least 12 people, according to local officials cited by Bloomberg. In Kyiv, families took shelter in metro stations as machine-gun fire and explosions were heard across the capital. Similar attacks were also reported in Lviv, a region that typically sees fewer strikes.

President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for greater military support from Washington and Western allies, urging immediate reinforcement of Ukraine’s air defences in the face of intensifying Russian attacks. According to a Bloomberg report, Ukraine has now lost three US-made F-16 jets since their deployment last year, though the total size of the fleet remains undisclosed.

The latest assault comes shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is open to a new round of peace talks in Istanbul. Previous negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials in the Turkish city were brief and failed to yield any progress.

Russia fired a total of 537 aerial weapons at Ukraine

Russia launched a total of 537 aerial weapons on Ukraine in what officials described as the “most massive airstrike” since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s air force said. The assault included 477 drones and decoys, along with 60 missiles. Of these, 249 aerial threats were shot down, while 226 were either jammed electronically or considered non-explosive decoys, according to the Associated Press.

Ukrainian forces reported destroying 211 drones and 38 missiles. The attack targeted multiple regions, including areas in western Ukraine far from the front lines. Lviv’s Drohobych city saw a large fire at an industrial site and partial power outages due to drone strikes.

Air defences in Poland and allied countries were activated to secure Polish airspace amid the cross-border threat.

At least 10 people were killed in the assault. Three fatalities each were reported in the Kherson, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions due to drone strikes. One person died in an airstrike on Kostyantynivka, while another was killed during shelling in Kherson. In Zaporizhzhia, a 70-year-old woman was found dead under the rubble of a nine-story building hit by Russian shelling.

Russian troops advance in Donetsk

Russia’s defence ministry said three Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight. In a separate incident, two people were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on the western Russian city of Bryansk, according to regional governor Alexander Bogomaz. He added that seven additional drones were downed over the region.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed it has captured the village of Novoukrainka in the partially occupied Donetsk region, where its forces continue slow, incremental advances along parts of the 1,000-kilometre front line. These gains, however, have come at a significant cost in terms of personnel and equipment.

In a related development, Russia’s foreign intelligence chief, Sergei Naryshkin, said he recently spoke by phone with CIA Director John Ratcliffe. “I had a phone call with my American counterpart and we reserved for each other the possibility to call at any time and discuss issues of interest to us,” Naryshkin told state media.

(With inputs from Associated Press and Bloomberg)