Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles in overnight strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia. Also saying it marks the first time Moscow has openly relied on Pyongyang’s weaponry to sustain its attacks on Ukraine.
At least six people were killed and nineteen others injured in the Zaporizhzhia strikes. Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov posted images of vehicles and buildings on fire, confirming that industrial facilities, infrastructure, and non-residential buildings were targeted using missiles and guided bombs. A hospital in Kyiv was also struck overnight. Although officials confirmed staff and patients had moved to shelter before the impact.
Strikes on substations in Kherson and Kharkiv caused power outages across both cities. In Sumy, two women aged 52 and 66 were injured in a Russian drone attack and treated at the scene.
Zelensky’s Speech
Zelensky addressed the nation on Monday evening with a sharp warning about the wider implications of North Korea’s involvement.
“For the first time, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” he said.
“The more North Korean strikes there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots.”
He had warned over the weekend that as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers were being sent to fight alongside Russian forces.
Ukraine did not absorb the night passively. Warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, were struck in the Voronezh region bordering Ukraine. The company, often compared to Amazon in scale, has been targeted repeatedly in recent weeks. Kyiv has previously stated it views Wildberries logistics hubs as supply chain infrastructure used by the Russian military. The company confirmed facilities in the region had been evacuated but had not confirmed the strike at the time of publication.
Zelensky also described a separate Ukrainian strike on a petrochemical plant in western Siberia on Monday as “a very significant achievement.” He promised more deep strikes to come.
“They should demonstrate to Russia and the Russians that peace is necessary,” he said.
Ukrainian officials reported that Russia fired 120 drones overnight alongside a range of missiles, though for the first time they declined to give a breakdown of how many missiles were fired or intercepted. The Ukrainian Air Force had issued a statement earlier in the day. It urged the media to avoid “sensationalised headlines” about shortages of air defence interceptors.
The strikes follow Monday’s Ukrainian drone attack on Tatarstan, which killed at least 13 people including a child. It also remains one of the deadliest single strikes on Russian soil since the war began in 2022. Seven of those killed were confirmed by the Uzbek consulate in Tatarstan to be Uzbek nationals.
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