President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russia used North Korean ballistic missiles in an overnight assault on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing six people and wounding 19 others. The attack, which also involved Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles and guided aerial bombs, marked another escalation in Moscow's reliance on Pyongyang's arsenal.
"The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs," Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. He had warned the previous evening that Russia was preparing to station more North Korean troops on its territory and had already received additional ballistic missiles from the North.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the deepening military partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang, often while appealing for more Western air-defence supplies. "This is the first time they cannot wage war without supplements from North Korea," he said, referring to Russian forces. "They are now preparing to deploy an additional contingent of Koreans on their territory. They have received, just imagine, additional ballistic missiles from North Korea."
The overnight strikes also targeted Kyiv and the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional authorities. In the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a "ballistic missile attack" on social media, with journalists hearing a series of explosions shortly after midnight. Ukraine's emergency service said a warehouse caught fire and one person was wounded.
In Dnipropetrovsk, Russian drone and artillery strikes across five districts killed three people and wounded five others, said regional military administration head Oleksandr Ganzha. Russia's defence ministry claimed its forces had "delivered a group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons, hitting military-industrial enterprises and transport-logistics centres in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia."
North Korean troops on the front line
Zelenskyy said at the weekend that a decision had been taken for 30,000 to 50,000 North Korean soldiers to be deployed on Russian soil, though he did not explain how he obtained those figures. The move follows a mutual defence pact signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2024, which has turned Pyongyang into one of Moscow's closest military partners.
Moscow used North Korean troops in a counteroffensive later that year that pushed Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region, which Kyiv had seized in a surprise incursion. According to South Korea's National Intelligence Service, about 600 North Korean soldiers have been killed fighting for Russia, with total casualties—including injuries and deaths—reaching roughly 4,700. Between January and March, some 2,000 injured soldiers were repatriated to North Korea by air or train; the dead were cremated in Russia before their remains were sent home.
The deepening ties have also brought economic benefits to North Korea. South Korea's unification ministry reported in April that Pyongyang's economy showed signs of recovery as it expanded trade and diplomatic relations with both Russia and China. Rigid socialist planning, high military spending, and sweeping international sanctions had long stifled growth, but analysts say Moscow is now providing economic and military technology assistance in return for troops and ammunition.
Ukraine's allies have responded with new measures. The US Senate passed sweeping sanctions targeting Russian energy revenues, while the EU has targeted five more Russians over strikes on Ukrainian cities. Yet Zelenskyy continues to stress the urgent need for more air-defence systems, particularly US Patriots, which are among the few capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. A shortage of PAC-3 interceptors has worsened since the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in February.
As Russia presses its missile campaign, Ukraine has stepped up its own strikes on Russian cities far from the border. The Kyiv drone chief has warned that Russia plans salvos of up to 200 missiles, underscoring the scale of the threat. The overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia, which killed six and wounded 19, is a grim reminder of the human cost of Moscow's reliance on North Korean weaponry.
