Zelenskyy says Russia using North Korean missiles in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles in its attacks, as another night of bombardment killed at least nine civilians and injured dozens of others.

Zelenskyy said Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in their attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, where local officials said six people were killed and 19 wounded.

Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities said.

Russia has received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops, Zelenskyy said late Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2024 that pledged mutual aid if either country faced aggression. Since then, various reports of Ukrainian troops skirmishing with North Korean counterparts have emerged.

The Ukrainian president warned that North Korea’s missile capabilities are being improved by the collaboration with Russia. “The more North Korean strikes there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots, the greater the danger will later be for Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and other countries in the region,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

In December 2024, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff estimated that there had already been more than 1,000 North Korean troops in the war. In January 2025, Ukraine announced it had, for the first time, captured two wounded North Korean soldiers.

Ukraine says Russia is scaling up its production of ballistic missiles, aiming to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors that can stop them. Kyiv also claims Moscow is preparing an increase in recruitment for a new push on the front line that stretches 775 miles along 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.