Russia launched a large-scale aerial assault on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, marking a second consecutive night of ferocious attacks on the country, as Russia ramps up its bombardment more than three years into the war.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, topping previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks, part of Moscow’s intensifying aerial and ground assault in the three-year war, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

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

One of those key frontline areas is Pokrovsk, a strategic hub in eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has been trying to capture for more than two years. According to the head of Ukraine's army Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, Russia has concentrated some 111,000 troops in that area.