Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 9, wound 25

KYIV (AFP) — Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least nine people and wounded 25 others overnight, authorities said Tuesday, as Kyiv warned that Moscow had received more ballistic missiles from North Korea.

The attacks hit the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, with Russia’s Defense Ministry saying its forces carried out a “group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons” against military-industrial and transport facilities in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia.

In Zaporizhzhia, six people were killed and 19 wounded in what regional military administration chief Ivan Fedorov described as a “massive” attack involving missiles and guided aerial bombs.

In Dnipropetrovsk, Russian drone and artillery strikes on five districts killed three people and wounded five others, regional authorities said.

In Kyiv, Agence France Presse journalists heard explosions shortly after midnight following a missile alert. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital was “under ballistic missile attack.”

Ukraine’s emergency service said a warehouse caught fire and one person was wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier that Russia was preparing to deploy more North Korean troops and had received new ballistic missiles from Pyongyang.

Only some air defense systems, including US-made Patriot systems, can intercept ballistic missiles. A shortage of PAC-3 interceptors has worsened since the US-Israel war against Iran began in February.

Ukraine has also intensified strikes against Russian cities far from the front line.