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.

Moscow has been escalating its bombardment of Ukraine over the past several months as U.S.-mediated peace talks stall.

A Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot was killed while repelling a Russian 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.