Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked Vladimir Putin for his reliance on ally North Korea, saying that Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea.
On Tuesday, Zelensky said Russia fired North Korean missiles in an overnight attack that killed six and wounded 19 in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.
The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs,
Zelensky announced.
He described the strike as an attack “calculated to inflict maximum damage” on civilian infrastructure.
“For the first time in its history, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea,”
Zelensky said.
Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,
the Ukrainian leader added.
Russia has received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, Zelensky said late Monday.
The Ukrainian president said Moscow and Pyongyang had agreed to station between 30,000 and 50,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory, an escalation from earlier deployments that he described as first hundreds and then thousands of men.
The more North Korean strikes there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots, the greater the danger will later be for Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and other countries in the region,
Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president warned that North Korea’s missile capabilities are being improved by the collaboration with Russia.
Russia has begun deploying a North Korean missile unit equipped with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for use in its war against Ukraine, a Ukrainian intelligence official told Reuters Wednesday.
Zelenskiy said last month that the Kremlin wanted North Korea to send another 30,000 troops, and that Russian preparations were under way to receive them in the Voronezh region.
In the viral moment overnight Tuesday, Russian forces rained down missiles and drones across multiple Ukrainian cities.
Zelensky said Russia fired North Korean missiles in an overnight attack that killed six and wounded 19 in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.
Zelensky said emergency response efforts had been ongoing in Zaporizhzhia after the city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles on Monday evening.
Zelenskyy had warned on Monday evening that Russia was preparing to station more North Korean troops on its territory and had already received more ballistic missiles from Pyongyang.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024 that pledged mutual aid if either country faced aggression.
North Korea sent an estimated 14,000 soldiers to Russia’s Kursk Region in 2024 after an incursion into the region by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine is very short of high-end air defences and Russia has tried to exploit this by using more ballistic missiles, which are particularly hard to shoot down.
Only certain air defence systems, including US Patriots, are 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.