Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least nine people and wounded dozens overnight Tuesday, authorities said, as Moscow intensified its ballistic missile campaign and Kyiv warned that Russia had received new missiles from North Korea.
The strikes hit Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, with Russian forces using ballistic missiles, guided aerial bombs, drones, and artillery, according to Ukrainian officials.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed its forces had carried out a “group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons” targeting military-industrial facilities and transport hubs in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.
In Zaporizhzhia, regional military administration head Ivan Fedorov said Russian forces launched a “massive” attack using missiles and guided aerial bombs.
“Six people were killed and 19 others wounded,” Fedorov wrote on Telegram, updating an earlier casualty toll.
The attacks damaged residential buildings and infrastructure, triggered fires, and caused power outages in parts of the city, officials said.
In the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian drone and artillery attacks on five districts killed three people and wounded five others, regional military administration head Oleksandr Ganzha said.
Kyiv targeted by ballistic missiles
Kyiv was also targeted shortly after midnight, with Kyiv Post journalists reporting a series of explosions across the capital after authorities issued a missile alert.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the city was “under ballistic missile attack” and urged residents to remain in shelters.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said an infectious diseases hospital was hit in the capital, while strikes on the frontlines cities of Kherson and Kharkiv caused power outages.
A children’s hospital in Kyiv was also hit, the health ministry said, posting photos of broken windows and debris in a courtyard.
“Children and medical staff were not harmed, as they were in a shelter at the time of the attack,” the ministry said.
The attack came after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing to deploy additional North Korean troops and had received new ballistic missiles from Pyongyang.
Kyiv says growing military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is helping Russia sustain its war effort while providing North Korea with battlefield experience.
Russia ramps up missile campaign
Russia has increased its use of ballistic missiles against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, putting additional pressure on Ukraine’s limited stocks of advanced air-defense interceptors.
Only a small number of systems, including US-made Patriot air-defense batteries, are capable of reliably intercepting ballistic missiles. Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to its Western allies for more Patriot systems and PAC-3 interceptor missiles.
The shortage of interceptors has become more acute amid competing global demand, including after the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran in February.
At the same time, Ukraine has expanded its own long-range strikes against targets deep inside Russian territory, targeting military facilities, energy infrastructure and logistics hubs.