At least nine people have been killed and dozens wounded in a fresh wave of Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Moscow of using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in the latest assault.
The overnight barrage struck several Ukrainian regions, with the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia suffering some of the heaviest casualties. Six people were killed and about 20 others injured after Russian forces struck the city with missiles and guided aerial bombs, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The attacks also affected Kyiv, where explosions and fires were reported during the night. A hospital was damaged, although officials said patients and medical staff had taken shelter. Strikes elsewhere damaged infrastructure and disrupted electricity supplies, while two women were injured in a separate Russian drone attack on Sumy.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched more than 120 drones alongside a range of missiles during the overnight assault. The latest attack comes as Ukraine faces mounting pressure on its air-defence capabilities.
Zelensky said the use of North Korean ballistic missiles in the latest strikes demonstrated the deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Ukraine has repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons and ammunition for its war effort.
The Ukrainian president has also warned that North Korea could further expand its military support for Russia, including through the deployment of additional personnel. Kyiv has previously reported the presence of North Korean troops assisting Russian forces.
The latest attacks came as Ukraine continued its own long-range strikes against targets inside Russia.
In the Voronezh region, a logistics facility belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, was reportedly hit, prompting evacuations from facilities in the area. The company has become a repeated target of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent weeks. Reuters reported that Ukrainian strikes against Wildberries facilities have disrupted logistics and caused significant economic losses.
Ukraine has said some of its attacks on Russian logistics facilities are aimed at disrupting supply networks allegedly used to support Moscow’s military operations.
The latest exchange of strikes follows a deadly Ukrainian drone assault on Russia’s Tatarstan region, where at least 13 people were killed and dozens more injured, according to Russian authorities. Ukrainian forces said they had targeted an oil facility in the region.
Zelensky also announced that Ukrainian forces had carried out a long-range strike against an oil-processing facility in western Siberia, describing the operation as part of Kyiv’s expanding campaign against strategically important Russian infrastructure.
The intensifying attacks underscore the increasingly long-range nature of the conflict, with both Moscow and Kyiv seeking to strike critical infrastructure and military-linked targets far beyond the immediate front lines.
The reported use of North Korean missiles adds another dimension to the escalating conflict, highlighting the growing military relationship between Russia and North Korea and raising concerns in Kyiv about Moscow’s ability to sustain large-scale missile attacks despite pressure on its own weapons stocks.
With diplomatic efforts to end the war continuing to face obstacles, the latest strikes suggest that both sides are preparing for further escalation rather than an immediate reduction in hostilities.
