North Korean missiles hit Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia in deadly Russian strike

Russia used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in a deadly strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing seven civilian workers and injuring 21 others at a Metinvest steel plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The attack was part of a wider wave of Russian missile, drone and glide-bomb strikes on Ukrainian cities on Tuesday. Three more civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, authorities said.

A strike also hit the grounds of a children's hospital, leaving two craters but causing no injuries, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

Zelenskyy said the use of North Korean ballistic missiles was part of a broader increase in Moscow's military cooperation with Pyongyang. He warned that Russia's growing missile production, reliance on North Korean equipment and preparations for further mobilisation showed that Moscow was preparing for escalation rather than peace.

"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," Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine has increasingly raised concerns over North Korea's military support for Russia. Recent reporting has indicated that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with ballistic missiles and military personnel as the two countries deepen their strategic partnership.

Zelenskyy also warned that Russia could use its September parliamentary election as a pretext for a new mobilisation campaign. He said Ukrainian intelligence believed Moscow could seek to mobilise several hundred thousand additional troops by the end of the year, followed by another similar mobilisation next year.

He accused Russia of seeking to create the appearance that its population supports the war through an election in which meaningful opposition has been restricted.

Russia's Supreme Court has barred the Yabloko party, the only officially registered party opposing Moscow's war in Ukraine, from competing in the election, according to the Guardian report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its campaign of long-range strikes against Russian infrastructure. Ukraine's military General Staff said its forces struck an oil refinery in Orsk in Russia's Orenburg region, about 1,500 km from Ukraine, causing a fire.

The refinery can process about 44 million barrels of crude oil a year into products including petrol, diesel and aviation fuel.

Russian online retailer Wildberries also said its logistics facilities in the Voronezh region, near the Ukrainian border, came under attack and caught fire.

In the Black Sea, Romania's Defence Ministry said its navy destroyed two suspected Russian Gerbera-type drones drifting about 166 km from the port of Constanta. Divers blew up the drones and recovered some debris, the ministry said. Ukraine told Romania the drones were not Ukrainian.

Zelenskyy has also warned that Russia is seeking to exploit Ukraine's shortage of Patriot air-defence interceptors, which are among the systems capable of countering ballistic missiles.

The latest attacks come as the war enters its fifth year, with both sides increasingly relying on long-range strikes against targets far from the frontline. Russia continues to use missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine has expanded its drone campaign against Russian oil and military infrastructure.