Ukraine and Russia exchanged overnight strikes, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accusing Russia of using missiles supplied by North Korea.
Ukraine said Russian strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed seven people and injured at least 24. Ukrainian officials said ballistic missiles supplied by Russia’s ally North Korea were used in the attack.
In Voronezh, western Russia, warehouses belonging to Wildberries, the country’s largest online retailer, were hit in a Ukrainian strike. The company has been targeted in previous attacks in recent weeks.
The strikes came a day after at least 13 people, including one child, were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, more than 1,100km (680 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
In a video address on Monday evening, Zelensky said Russia was, “for the first time”, unable to conduct the war without support from North Korea.
He said the use of North Korean missiles and personnel in Ukraine could allow North Korea to identify and address weaknesses in its military capabilities, which he described as a potential concern beyond the conflict.
Zelensky did not provide evidence to support his claims.
Ukrainian and Western officials have previously accused Russia of receiving military assistance from North Korea.
Ukraine’s military has said Russia has used dozens of North Korean missiles against Ukrainian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Over the weekend, Zelensky also said as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be sent to support Russian forces.
Around 11,000 North Korean soldiers were deployed to assist Russian forces in efforts to remove Ukrainian troops from the western Russian region of Kursk following Ukraine’s cross-border incursion in August 2024.
In January 2025, Western officials told the BBC that North Korean troops had suffered nearly 40% casualties during three months of fighting in the region.
Zelensky also described a Ukrainian air strike on a Russian petrochemical plant in western Siberia on Monday as a significant operation by Ukraine’s military. He said Ukraine would continue carrying out long-range strikes against targets in Russia.
In Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov published photographs showing vehicles and buildings on fire and said Russian forces had used missiles and guided bombs in the attack.
The seven people killed were employees of the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, which subsequently suspended operations.
One person was injured in strikes on Kyiv, where air-raid sirens sounded twice overnight. Explosions were reported on the outskirts of the capital, followed by fires.
Local officials later said a children’s hospital was damaged. No injuries were reported there, as staff and patients had taken shelter.
Two women were injured in a Russian drone strike on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, according to regional head Serhii Kryvosheienko. He later reported that one person was killed when Russian forces attacked the city with guided bombs.
Strikes on substations in Kherson and Kharkiv also caused power outages.
Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 120 drones overnight along with several types of missiles. For the first time, however, they did not provide figures for the number of missiles launched or intercepted.
The development followed a statement from Ukraine’s Air Force on Monday urging media outlets to avoid what it described as “sensationalised headlines” and “pessimism” regarding the availability of air-defence interceptors.
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