Russian forces used North Korean ballistic missiles in a strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early Tuesday, killing six people and injuring 19 others, The Telegraph reported.

Axar.az informs that, according to the newspaper, Moscow has received new batches of North Korea’s KN-23 and KN-24 ballistic missiles after a year-long pause in their use on the battlefield. The missiles are reportedly being deployed as Ukraine faces shortages of Patriot air-defense interceptors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a “vicious attack calculated to inflict maximum damage specifically on civilian infrastructure.”

According to The Telegraph, Ukrainian military intelligence said a North Korean missile unit had begun deploying to Russia’s Voronezh region. The unit could reportedly be equipped with up to 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers.

The newspaper also reported that Zelensky had said as many as 50,000 North Korean troops could be deployed to Russia, expanding Pyongyang’s role in the war. Thousands of North Korean soldiers have already fought alongside Russian forces.

The expanded military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang is described by The Telegraph as evidence of increasingly close alignment between the two regimes. For Russia, North Korean manpower and weapons could help sustain its war effort, while for North Korea, the partnership provides greater military experience and closer ties with Moscow.

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