At least six people were killed early today when Russian forces attacked the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with a barrage that included North Korean ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Another six people died overnight in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, while a separate Russian assault on Kyiv sparked fires across the capital, Ukrainian officials reported.
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Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor, shared photographs showing buildings and vehicles engulfed in flames in Zaporizhzhia. Officials said 20 people were wounded in the attack.
“The city was hit by North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons (anti-ship missiles) and KABs (precision-guided aerial bombs),” Mr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
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Russia did not immediately confirm whether North Korean missiles were used in the Zaporizhzhia strike, and Pyongyang issued no comment.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had hit the Nova Poshta sorting complex in Kyiv, claiming the site was used to store and distribute dual-use goods, including drone components and electronic warfare equipment.
The ministry also said Russian forces had struck a metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia that produces flat-rolled steel and alleged that the facility supplied the Ukrainian military.
The latest attacks came after Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike had killed at least 13 people and wounded 39 in the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk the previous day, marking one of the highest civilian death tolls in Russia in months.
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin have previously agreed a mutual assistance provision if either country faced external aggression (file pic)
Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the conflict continues with no clear end in sight. The war has killed many thousands of people, most of them in Ukraine, reduced towns and cities to ruins and driven millions of Ukrainians from their homes.
Russia has maintained its intense bombardment of Ukraine, seeking to exploit Kyiv’s shortage of advanced air-defence systems with an increased reliance on ballistic missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has expanded its attacks inside Russia, striking targets that have included oil refineries and warehouses used by e-commerce retailer Wildberries.
Ukraine said today that it had hit an oil refinery in the Russian city of Orsk as part of its latest strikes.
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Reuters cited an official from Ukraine’s military intelligence agency last week who said a North Korean missile unit had begun deploying to western Russia. The unit could be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for attacks on Ukraine, the official said.
Russia has launched scores of North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine since late 2023. The deployment of North Korean missile personnel would deepen an already extensive military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Mr Zelensky wrote on X on Saturday that “a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia” to fight alongside Moscow. He had earlier estimated that 30,000 soldiers could be involved.
Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty two years ago, including a mutual assistance provision if either country faced external aggression.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk region in 2024 after Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the area.
According to Ukrainian and independent assessments, North Korea has also supplied Russia with millions of artillery and mortar rounds, ballistic missiles, long-range artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems.
