Russia launched its biggest aerial attack overnight since the start of the war against Ukraine, a Ukrainian official said on Sunday.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Moscow launched a total of 537 aerial weapons towards Ukraine, which included 477 drones and decoys as well as 60 missiles. Out of these, 249 were successfully intercepted, while 226 became inoperative, potentially due to electronic jamming.

Yuriy Ihnat, the head of communications for Ukraine’s air force, described this attack as “the most massive airstrike” on Ukraine since the onset of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. This assessment considered both the use of drones and the range of missile types involved.

Poland and allied countries scrambled aircraft to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, Poland’s air force said. (Photos supplied by Getty Images)

In the Lviv region, located in the far west of Ukraine, a significant fire erupted at an industrial site in Drohobych following a drone strike, which also led to power outages in various parts of the city.

Ukraine’s air force said one of its F-16 warplanes supplied by the West crashed after sustaining damage as it was shooting down air targets, killing the pilot.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow is ready for another round of direct peace talks in Istanbul to end the war. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo/Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

The new attacks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Moscow is ready for another round of direct peace talks in Istanbul to end the war.

No end appears to be in sight as international peace efforts coordinated by the U.S. have not yet led to any breakthroughs. Two recent rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul were brief and yielded no progress on reaching an agreement.