Ukraine and Russia exchanged overnight strikes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of using North Korean missiles in its attacks on Ukraine.
According to the BBC, Ukrainian authorities said ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea were used in strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia that killed seven people and wounded at least 24 others.
Zelensky made the accusation in a video address on Monday evening, saying Russia was increasingly dependent on military support from North Korea to sustain its war effort.
“For the first time, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,” Zelensky said, arguing that the use of North Korean missiles and troops in Ukraine was allowing Pyongyang to identify weaknesses and improve its military capabilities.
“The more North Korean attacks there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots,” Zelensky said, warning that the development posed a broader security risk.
Zelensky did not provide evidence to substantiate his latest claim.
The accusation comes amid continued Russian-North Korean military cooperation, with Ukrainian and Western officials having repeatedly alleged that Pyongyang has supplied Moscow with weapons and military personnel to support its war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine also carried out attacks inside Russia. In Voronezh, western Russia, Ukrainian strikes hit warehouses belonging to Wildberries, one of the country’s largest online retailers. The company’s facilities have been targeted repeatedly in recent weeks.
The latest exchanges followed Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia’s Tatarstan region a day earlier, in which at least 13 people, including a child, were reportedly killed. Tatarstan is located more than 1,100 kilometers from Ukraine’s border.
The continued strikes underscore the expanding geographic reach of attacks linked to the war, as both sides increasingly target infrastructure and military-related facilities far from the front lines.
