Russia Fired North Korean Missile at Ukraine for First Time Since August 2025, Killing Family Near Kryvyi Rih

A year-long gap ends near Kryvyi Rih

A Russian overnight missile and drone attack likely killed a family using a North Korean missile near the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, according to two sources cited by Reuters. If confirmed, it would mark the first time such a weapon has been fired in the war in nearly a year.

One military source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said August 8, 2025 was the last time Ukraine confirmed a Russian strike using a North Korean missile. That's nearly a full year without one, based on this source's account.

The strike killed at least six people in the village of Radyushne, near Kryvyi Rih in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Azerbaijan's APA news agency, citing Ukrainian outlet UNIAN. The dead included two young girls and four adults. Eight others, including two children, were injured, APA reported.

Why one missile matters

Russia started firing North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine toward the end of 2023, per Reuters. Pyongyang has been one of Moscow's closest wartime partners, supplying not just missiles but thousands of troops and millions of artillery shells, according to Reuters reporting.

One of the sources told Reuters the renewed use after such a long gap suggests Russia has restocked its supply of North Korean weapons just as it ramps up missile attacks on Ukraine. This is significant for tracking how sanctions and diplomatic isolation have or haven't slowed the flow of weapons between the two countries.

This is an intelligence assessment from anonymous sources, not a confirmed fact from Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian air force did not respond to a written request for comment from Reuters. No North Korean or Russian government statement addresses the missile's origin.

The bigger overnight barrage

The North Korean missile was one piece of a much larger assault. Zelenskiy said Russia pounded Ukraine with dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones overnight, killing eight people total. He used the moment to blast shortages of air defense supplies and press allies for more help.

APA's report, sourcing UNIAN and the Ukrainian Air Force, adds detail Reuters didn't include. Russia allegedly launched several waves of Kh-101 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers as part of the assault. Beyond Dnipropetrovsk region, strikes hit Lviv, where residential buildings were damaged and six people were injured, according to APA. Explosions were also reported in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Volyn, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, and near Kyiv, APA said.

What's proven, what isn't

Proven by named, on-the-record reporting: Russia carried out a large overnight strike using missiles and drones across multiple Ukrainian regions. At least six people died in Radyushne near Kryvyi Rih, per Ukrainian authorities cited by APA. Zelenskiy put the nationwide death toll at eight.

Alleged but not confirmed: that a North Korean missile specifically caused the fatal strike near Kryvyi Rih. That claim rests on two anonymous sources speaking to Reuters, including one military source. No Ukrainian government body has publicly confirmed the missile's origin, and the Ukrainian air force did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

Missile debris analysis takes time, and Ukrainian officials have in the past waited days or weeks before publicly attributing strikes to specific North Korean systems. The August 8, 2025 precedent the source cites suggests Ukraine does eventually confirm these things when the evidence holds up. Whether this one will hold up is still an open question.

What to watch

The next real marker will be whether Ukraine's air force or military intelligence publicly confirms the North Korean missile, the way it did after the August 2025 strike. If confirmed, it would be the clearest signal yet that Pyongyang's arms pipeline to Moscow, which the White House and South Korean intelligence have both flagged in past assessments, is still flowing steadily as the war continues into its fifth year. If it isn't confirmed, the anonymous-source assessment stands as exactly that: an assessment, not a fact.