Russia launched the most extensive aerial bombardment of Ukraine since its full-scale invasion, according to Kyiv, signalling a sharp escalation in Moscow’s campaign and further undermining fragile hopes for a negotiated resolution to the war now in its fourth year.

A Ukrainian pilot was killed and his F-16 fighter jet crashed as after Russia launched a huge aerial assault involving hundreds of drones and scores of missiles overnight, the Ukrainian military said on Sunday.

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot died in a crash while repelling a Russian air attack that involved hundreds of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, authorities said on Sunday, as Moscow intensifies night-time air barrages in the fourth year of war.