Russia said Tuesday that its massive aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent days were a "response" to escalating Ukrainian drone strikes on its own civilians, accusing Kyiv of trying to "disrupt" peace efforts.

Moscow, which has repeatedly rejected proposals from Kyiv and its Western allies for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire, fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine between late Friday and early Monday, killing more than a dozen people and saturating the country's air defences.

Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.