Russia hits Ukraine as Zelenskyy warns of fresh North Korean missile support

Russian missiles and drones hit several Ukrainian cities overnight, killing civilians and damaging sites in Kyiv. Zelenskyy said fresh North Korean support shows Moscow is preparing for escalation, not peace.

In Short

• Six people died in Zaporizhzhia after overnight strikes wounded nineteen others
• Dnipropetrovsk attacks killed three civilians, including a 15-year-old boy there
• A Kyiv children's hospital compound was hit, but sheltering prevented casualties

Russia launched missiles, drones and glide bombs on Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least nine civilians, officials said on Tuesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was receiving fresh military support from North Korea for its war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said Russian forces used North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles in an attack on Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. Local officials said six people were killed and 19 were wounded there. In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed in Russian drone and artillery strikes.

Late on Monday, Zelenskyy said Russia had received more ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and was preparing to deploy additional North Korean troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement a little over two years ago, under which the two sides pledged mutual aid if either faced aggression. Kim has since sent thousands of troops and large supplies of weapons to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy said battlefield experience gained in Ukraine would also strengthen North Korea's ability to threaten other countries in its region.

Ukraine says Russia is increasing ballistic missile production and trying to take advantage of Kyiv's shortage of Patriot air defence interceptors, which can stop such missiles. It has also claimed that Moscow is preparing to step up recruitment for a new push along the 1,250-km front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. "Every step Russia takes - increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization - all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation," Zelenskyy said on social media.

US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war have lost momentum, with Washington frustrated by the lack of progress and its focus shifting to the Iran war. In an analysis late on Monday, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said, "The Kremlin will not enter serious negotiations or make meaningful compromises on its demands as long as Putin believes that he has a viable military path to achieving his full objectives." It added, "Ukraine's Patriot shortages offer Russia an opportunity to cause very serious damage to Ukraine over the coming winter and will therefore contribute to delaying meaningful negotiations and protracting the war."

Russian forces also struck parts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, officials said. One strike hit the grounds of a children's hospital, leaving two craters and shattering windows, according to the State Emergency Service. It said children and medical workers were in bomb shelters and nobody was hurt. At another site in the capital, a Russian strike caused a warehouse fire that spread over about 1,200 square metres, emergency officials said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had struck "military industrial facilities and transport and logistics centres" in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia overnight using "ground-based precision weapons". In a statement on Tuesday, it said it hit drone storage facilities in Kyiv and a metallurgical plant in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine's air force said Russia targeted Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv with Zircon anti-ship missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles, while launching 120 long-range strike drones of various types across the country.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences intercepted almost 400 Ukrainian drones overnight over 14 Russian regions and occupied Crimea. Russia's biggest online retailer, Wildberries, said its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region near the Ukrainian border came under attack and caught fire, but the fire had been put out. It said goods stored there were "largely undamaged". Ukraine has repeatedly struck Wildberries warehouses and Russian oil facilities as part of what it says is an effort to force Putin to negotiate an end to the invasion. Russian independent outlet Astra reported that an oil refinery in Orsk, about 1,300 km from the border with Ukraine, was hit and published images showing smoke rising over it, though there was no official confirmation.

The latest exchanges saw Russian attacks kill civilians in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk, while strikes were also reported in Kyiv and on targets inside Russia, against the backdrop of Zelenskyy's warning that Moscow is receiving more missiles and possible troop support from North Korea.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends