Ukraine war briefing: North Korean missiles hit Zaporizhzhia in deadly attack

Russian forces used ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea, Ukraine’s president said, in an attack on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia where the Metinvest steel company said seven civilian workers at its plant were killed and 21 injured. Three more civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, authorities said. Russia used missiles, drones and glide bombs to attack Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president. One strike hit the grounds of a children’s hospital, leaving two craters but not hurting anyone, the State Emergency Service said.

Ukraine’s military general staff said its forces struck an oil refinery in the city of Orsk in Russia’s Orenburg region near the border with Kazakhstan, about 1,500km (930 miles) from Ukraine, causing a fire. The refinery can process about 44m barrels of crude oil a year to produce gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel and other products. The Russian online retailer Wildberries said its logistical facilities in the Voronezh region of Russia near the Ukrainian border came under attack and caught fire.

Romania’s defence ministry said its navy destroyed two suspected Russian drones drifting in the Black Sea about 90 nautical miles (166km) from the port of Constanta. The Gerbera-type drones – a cut-price Russian version of the Shahed – were blown up by divers and some pieces were recovered, the ministry said, adding that Ukraine said the drones were not theirs.

Russia is aiming to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Patriot air defence interceptors that can stop ballistic missiles, Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow is preparing to recruit more troops for a new push on the frontline. “Every step Russia takes – increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilisation – all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,” Zelenskyy posted. He was warned in recent days that North Korea is preparing to send up to 50,000 more troops to Russia.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence suggested Russia would use its “pseudo-election” in September as a pretext to declare a new mobilisation. Mobilisation involves the use of reservists and conscripts, which in 2022 led to protests in Russia such as recruiting offices being set on fire. “They are preparing for mobilisation in the autumn, ​immediately after the imitation of parliamentary elections,” Zelenskyy said as part of a plan to “create the appearance that Russians supposedly support the war”. Russia’s supreme ​court on Monday barred the Yabloko party, the only officially registered party that opposes Moscow’s ​war in Ukraine, from competing ‌in the election. Zelenskyy continued: “Then, following the so-called election, he plans an additional rapid mobilisation of several hundred thousand Russians by the end of the year, plus another similar number next year.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine had ⁠handed proposals to US ⁠negotiators for a plan ​to end the war with Moscow. Zelenskyy offered no details on the proposals. US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were last in Moscow in January and have not yet visited Kyiv. The Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank, has said in an analysis that the Kremlin will not seriously negotiate as long as Putin believes he might still reach his full objectives. “Ukraine’s Patriot shortages offer Russia an opportunity to cause very serious damage to Ukraine over the coming winter and will therefore contribute to delaying meaningful negotiations and protracting the war.”

The UN estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during the war are still being “deprived of their liberty”, with many held incommunicado and on grounds that don’t comply with international law. “Widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment” of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russia are continuing, including sexual violence, said Claudia Fuentes Julio, the UN assistant secretary general for human rights.