Russia launched 537 drones and missiles into Ukraine overnight into Sunday morning, according to Ukraine's air force, with a Ukrainian F-16 fighter jet and its pilot also reported lost during efforts to repel the attack.

Pilot Lt-Col Maksym Ustimenko, born in 1993, shot down seven air targets using all his weapons before he was hit. Poland's operational command announced that NATO fighters were scrambled because of the intensity of Russian onslaught on Ukraine.

NATO planes were scrambled overnight as Russia launched a massive wave of strikes on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s forces reportedly launched as many as 500 drones in what has been described as one of the largest Russian attacks on Ukraine since it launched its invasion in 2022.