NATO fighter jets were scrambled on Saturday after Vladimir Putin unleashed the most intense wave of drone and missile attacks on western Ukraine since the start of the war. Russia is believed to have launched up to 30 missiles and 700 military drones in a major escalation overnight, targeting cities including Lviv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight. That tops previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks.

One of Russia’s most powerful men, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, is set to visit North Korea this weekend, in a sign of deepening relations between Moscow and Pyongyang as North Korea gets pulled deeper into Russia’s war in Ukraine.

(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had discussed improved air defences and intensified sanctions against Russia with two U.S. lawmakers who are backing a bill to impose tougher punitive measures against Moscow.

Russia's foreign minister on Saturday warned the U.S., South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation.

At least two people were killed overnight into Saturday as Russia continued to pound Ukraine with hundreds of drones as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that has further dampened hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the more than three-year-old war.

During a rare news conference on Friday, the head of the French military, Thierry Burkhard, said Russia remains a “lasting, close” threat.

Britain must prepare for war with Russia within five years by building bunkers and investing in air defences, the former Army head has warned. Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, who stood down as Chief of the General Staff last summer, said the UK needed to accept that war with Putin by 2030 was a “ realistic possibility ”.