Putin used North Korean ballistic missiles in lethal attack on Ukraine, Zelenskyy says

Russia bombarded Ukraine with North Korean missiles overnight, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Russian attack killed six people and injured at least 19 in Zaporizhzhia, said the city’s mayor, Rehina Kharchenko. Four apartment buildings and several non-residential buildings were damaged in the southeastern city, Kharchenko wrote on her Telegram channel. According to Zelenskyy, the city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons and guided aerial bombs. In a post on X, he wrote: “It was a vicious attack, calculated to inflict maximum damage specifically on civilian infrastructure.” Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un have deepened ties since the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine began. In September last year during a meeting in Beijing, Kim vowed to do “everything we can to assist Russia.” Zelenskyy also reported attacks on a Kyiv hospital and businesses overnight, with at least one person injured. The capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, urged residents late Monday to seek shelter. Moscow also attacked substations in Kherson and Kharkiv, causing power outages, Zelenskyy said. Further attacks took place in the Donetsk, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions. “Every step Russia takes — increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization — all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelenskyy wrote. Russia has stepped up its missile attacks this summer, with Zelenskyy urging Western allies to help Kyiv strengthen its air defenses and to heap sanctions pressure on companies fueling Moscow’s war. However, Europe is running out of Patriot interceptors to shoot down Russian missiles, according to the continent’s military officials. Ukraine, meanwhile, has struck back, targeting Russian infrastructure including oil refineries and buildings belonging to e-commerce giant Wildberries. Russian state media on Tuesday reported that two Wildberries warehouses in the Voronezh region, several hundred kilometers south of Moscow, caught fire following drone strikes, killing one person.