Ukraine says Russian attacks kill at least 10 civilians and cite North Korean missile aid

Russian forces launched a series of missile, drone and glide-bomb attacks on Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, killing at least 10 civilians, Ukrainian officials said. Seven workers at a steel plant in Zaporizhzhia were killed and 21 injured when a ballistic missile struck the facility, and three additional people, including a 15-year-old boy, died in the Dnipropetrovsk region from drone and artillery fire.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the missiles used in the Zaporizhzhia strike were supplied by North Korea, adding that Pyongyang was also preparing to send more troops to Russia. He noted that a 2024 strategic partnership between President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un pledged mutual assistance if either country faced aggression.

Zelenskyy warned that Russia’s increased ballistic-missile production, acquisition of North Korean equipment and mobilization efforts indicate a move toward escalation rather than peace. The Institute for the Study of War echoed the view, saying Moscow’s actions suggest it believes it has a viable military path to achieve its objectives.

In Kyiv, Russian strikes hit the grounds of a children’s hospital, creating craters and shattering windows, but no casualties were reported as staff and children were in shelters. Another strike ignited a warehouse fire covering about 1,200 square metres.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces targeted “military industrial facilities and transport and logistics centers” in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia with precision weapons, including Zircon anti-ship missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles, and launched 120 long-range strike drones nationwide.

Metinvest, the operator of the Zaporizhzhia steel plant, confirmed the deaths of seven employees and reported damage to its blast furnace and other equipment, forcing a shutdown of the plant.

Separately, Russia’s air defenses reported intercepting nearly 400 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions and Crimea. The Russian e-commerce firm Wildberries said its logistics centre in the Voronezh region was hit and caught fire, though the blaze was extinguished and most goods remained intact.

The United Nations estimated that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia remain deprived of liberty, with reports of systematic torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, according to UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Claudia Fuentes Julio.