Zelensky says North Korean missiles used as overnight strikes kill seven in Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine and Russia have continued exchanging overnight strikes, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of using North Korean missiles in attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed seven people and injured at least 24, while Russian authorities said Ukrainian drones hit warehouses belonging to the online retailer Wildberries in Voronezh. The latest attacks add to a pattern of reciprocal strikes that has intensified in recent days.

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Zelensky said in a video address that Russia could not wage war without reinforcements from North Korea, and said this was the first time Moscow had relied on such support. He said the use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine and Europe posed a danger beyond the battlefield, but he did not present evidence to support the claim. Ukraine has previously said dozens of North Korean missiles have been fired into its territory since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Zaporizhzhia strike is the most serious confirmed casualty toll in the supplied material from this latest exchange. Ivan Fedorov, the regional head, posted images showing vehicles and buildings on fire and said the city had been struck with missiles. In western Russia, the Wildberries warehouses were hit in Voronezh, and the company has been repeatedly targeted in recent weeks, according to the supplied material.

The attacks came a day after at least 13 people were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian republic of Tatarstan, more than 1,100 km from the Ukrainian border. The claims matter because they point to both the scale of the war and the widening debate over outside military support for Russia. North Korea has already been accused by Ukraine and Western officials of supplying missiles and troops to Moscow, and the supplied material says some 11,000 North Korean soldiers were previously deployed to help Russia in the western region of Kursk.

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If confirmed, the latest allegation would reinforce concerns that the partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang is extending further into the conflict. The broader backdrop is a war in which long-range strikes have become a central feature, with both sides targeting military and economic infrastructure far from the front line. The supplied material says Zelensky also praised a Ukrainian air strike on a petrochemical plant in western Siberia on Monday as a significant achievement, and promised more deep strikes.

It also notes that North Korea and Russia signed a strategic partnership in 2024, including a mutual assistance clause, which has fuelled concern in Kyiv and among Western governments about the depth of their cooperation. What remains unclear is whether the North Korean missile claim can be independently verified, how many missiles were involved, and whether any further casualties will be reported from Zaporizhzhia. The supplied material does not include a Russian or North Korean response to the allegation, and it does not say whether the Voronezh warehouse damage caused injuries or wider disruption.

What to watch next is whether forensic checks support the missile claim, whether either side comments publicly, and whether the latest strikes lead to further escalation.

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