Zelensky accuses Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles

Ukraine's President Zelensky said Monday that Russia deployed North Korean ballistic missiles in strikes on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on August 11, according to BBC News. The strikes killed seven people and injured at least 24, with all fatalities identified as employees of the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, per BBC reporting. Zelensky stated in a video address that "for the first time" Russia "cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea."

However, according to BBC News, Zelensky has not presented any evidence to back up his comments about North Korean missiles being used in these strikes. This marks a gap between the allegation and any technical or documentary support made public.

Ukraine's military has previously claimed that dozens of North Korean missiles have been fired by Russia into its territory since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, per BBC reporting. In January 2025, Western officials told the BBC that North Korean troops deployed to the Kursk region in August 2024 had suffered nearly 40% casualties in just three months of fighting. Zelensky warned over the weekend that as many as 50,000 North Korean soldiers were being sent to fight with Russian forces, according to BBC News.

BBC reporting notes this is not the first time Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian and Western officials have accused Russia of receiving military assistance from North Korea, suggesting a pattern of such allegations. The brief does not include Russian responses to the accusation or independent confirmation from Western intelligence agencies.

On the broader strikes of August 11, Ukrainian officials said Russia fired 120 drones overnight and a range of different missiles across multiple targets. Strikes on substations in Kherson and Kharkiv resulted in power outages. In Kyiv, one person was injured in strikes, and a children's hospital was damaged but suffered no injuries because staff and patients were sheltering, per BBC reporting. Two women were injured in a drone strike on Sumy, and one person was killed there in a subsequent gliding bomb attack on the city.

Ukraine said it struck the Tanevo oil refinery in Tatarstan, more than 1,100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. According to BBC News, at least 13 people were killed in that attack, at least one a child, with at least 75 injured. The Uzbek consulate in Tatarstan said seven of those killed were Uzbek citizens. BBC reporting notes this attack was among the deadliest single strikes on Russian territory since the full-scale invasion began.