Russia fired 597 drones and decoys, along with 26 cruise missiles, into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine's air force said.

Ukraine’s security agency says it has tracked down and killed Russian agents who assassinated a Ukrainian intelligence officer during the week.The SBU said in a statement said the Russian agents were killed after resisting arrest.

Hundreds of Russian attack drones and more than two dozen cruise missiles targeted Ukraine overnight, killing at least two people, Ukraine said.

Italy's Leonardo is open to supplying technology for drones but it does not plan to open a factory in Ukraine, the chief executive of the state-controlled defence group told daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Saturday.

Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles overnight and Saturday as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that killed at least six people and wounded dozens, officials said.

Russia launched its largest drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The latest assault included more drones in a single night than Russia used in the entire month of July last year.

Officials say a Russian drone barrage has targeted the center of Kharkiv, injuring nine people and damaging a maternity hospital in Ukraine’s second-largest city.