Russia launches large-scale strike on Kyiv using North Korean missiles

Russia launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Monday morning using North Korean ballistic missiles, along with cruise missiles and attack drones, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration Serhiy Popko reported on Telegram.

According to Popko, at around 3am strategic bombers from Russia’s southern Saratov region launched Kh-101 cruise missiles that were later followed by North Korean KN-24 ballistic missiles and Russian Iskander-M missiles, as well as one attack drone.

“More than a dozen cruise missiles, about a dozen ballistic missiles, and an attack drone were destroyed by air defence forces in the capital’s airspace! An incredibly large number of ballistic missiles at the same time!” Popko said.

Debris from the shot-down missiles fell in several areas of the capital, causing fires and damage to buildings, Popko added.

Information about the victims is still being clarified. According to Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko, two people were injured as a result of falling missile fragments, with one of whom was hospitalised.

During a June visit by Vladimir Putin to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, the pair signed a partnership agreement committing both countries to providing military assistance to the other in the event that it was attacked.

In October 2023, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based defence and security think tank, released a report which analysed dozens of high-resolution satellite images to reveal that Russia had likely begun shipping North Korean munitions “at scale” to prop up its war in Ukraine.