Russia has been firing North Korean ballistic missiles against Kyiv in the deadly overnight barrages, the latest of which killed three people in Ukraine’s second-largest city, officials said.
The attack on Wednesday morning saw the Kremlin fire 85 drones and one missile across 14 locations over the border, with Kyiv identifying the rocket’s origin as North Korean, similar to the ones fired during Monday’s record-breaking airstrike.
“The Russians have once again used ballistic missiles from North Korea,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said of the attacks.
“We are also tracking evidence that Russian-Iranian drone technologies have spread to North Korea. This is extremely dangerous both for Europe and for East and Southeast Asia,” he added.
Zelensky said that the longer the Russian invasion lasts, the more the Kremlin’s war machine will evolve and prove to be a “threat” to the West.
“This must be addressed now — not when thousands of upgraded Shahed drones and ballistic missiles begin to threaten Seoul and Tokyo,” Zelensky warned North Korea’s usual targets.
The warning highlighted the growing military alliance between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with UN officials finding that Pyongyang delivered as many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition to the Kremlin so far this year.
Russia’s plethora of drones and missiles have been used to relentlessly attack Ukraine, with more than 1,500 drones and missiles fired over the past week, the most intense airstrike campaign of the three-year war.
Moscow’s latest attack, significantly smaller than the ones of previous nights, was aimed at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack killed at least three people in the northeast city, with another 56 injured in the assault, which allegedly included Iranian-designed Shahed drones.
The attack also saw more than 103 residential buildings damaged in what officials said was nine minutes of non-stop bombings, with Terekhov describing the destruction as “enormous.”
Moscow had vowed to retaliate hard against Kyiv over the humiliating attack earlier this month that saw Ukrainian drones damage and destroy dozens of Russia’s heavy bombers in “Operation Spider Web.”
With Post wires