Russia’s strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed seven people and injured 24, with Ukraine saying the ballistic missiles came from Russia’s ally North Korea.
Earlier, in the western Russian republic of Voronezh, a Wildberries warehouse – the country’s largest online retailer – was hit by a Ukrainian drone strike. The company has faced repeated attacks in recent weeks, as Kyiv targets logistics hubs used to supply the Russian army.
Ukraine’s night air raids have taken them deep into Russian territory. This week, a strike near Nizhnekamsk damaged a petrochemical plant after a Ukrainian missile hit, and a raid on Tatarstan killed 13 people, including one child, after drones flew 1,100 kilometres beyond the Ukrainian border.
In a video address, President Zelensky warned that Russia could no longer conduct war without “reinforcements from North Korea.” He added that the country is correcting blind spots by using North‑Korean missiles and soldiers, a danger that “poses a threat to the rest of the world.”
While the president has yet to supply evidence, other Ukrainian and Western officials have repeatedly claimed that North Korea is sending missiles and up to 50,000 troops to the front. Ukraine says the attack on the Zaporizhzhia metallurgical plant forced it to halt operations.
Ukraine also reports new raids on Ukrainian cities. Fires broke out in Kyiv and an explosion was heard at the outskirts of the capital during night air‑raid sirens. A children’s hospital was damaged, but no injuries were reported as staff and patients were sheltered. On the eastern front, two women were injured when Russian drones struck Sumy, and an anti‑drone defence line was damaged in Kharkiv.
Russian strikes this month involved 120 drones and a range of missiles, but no official numbers have been released about how many missiles Russia fired, or were intercepted. Moscow’s Air Force has urged caution over claims of shortages of air‑defence interceptors, warning against sensationalism.
The saga of the war shows how the front line has stretched into provinces far beyond Ukraine’s borders, with high‑risk attacks on Russia’s key logistics & industrial sites. Ukraine continues to promise deeper strikes that they say will show Moscow the need for peace.
