Ukrainian cities continued coming under increasingly heavy bombardment on Sunday as Russia’s nearly two-week invasion of its neighbouring country intensified.

Scenes of destruction were reported around the country, with Ukrainian soldiers seen carrying civilians away from Russian attacks. Others who could not be saved from the barrage lay dead in the streets.

A Ukrainian presidential adviser said that as the sun went down the largest wave of missile attacks began, with heavy shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv but also hitting Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.

Amid the deaths, the fires and the crowds of desperate people fleeing the fighting, there were glimmers of hope, like the wedding of two members of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, with flowers, fatigues and a helmet for a wedding crown.

Others, meanwhile, attended church services.

Diplomatic efforts to end the war continued with meetings and calls among leaders in Europe and beyond on Sunday. So far some 1.5 million Ukrainians have been driven from their country by the violence.