Russia carried out its largest aerial attack on Ukraine, shattering any hopes that a record prisoner exchange completed on Sunday could lead to a cessation of hostilities.

Axar.az reports, citing the Financial Times, at least 12 people were killed and dozens more injured in the overnight attack, which the Ukrainian air force said was the single-largest aerial assault of the war so far — with Moscow launching 367 missiles and suicide drones. Sunday’s record assault came after another large attack on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 30 cities and towns had been targeted in 12 regions. He urged western allies to step up their pressure on Moscow in response to the attack which he described as further evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interested in peace. “Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war,” Zelensky said.

Each Russian air strike was “a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia”. “The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy,” Zelensky said, arguing that the war “can be stopped, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia”.

Some Ukrainian officials and western analysts have warned that Russia may prepare a renewed large-scale aerial campaign, timed to coincide with a potential new ground offensive.A surge in Russian missile and drone attacks over the weekend could be the opening phase of that broader strategy, they said.

Russia is now producing missiles and drones faster than it uses, stockpiling reserves and ratcheting up pressure on Ukraine’s stretched defences.

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