Russia strikes Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, killing 7; North Korean ballistic, Zircon missiles used

Russian forces struck Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv on Aug. 11 in an overnight barrage that included North Korean ballistic missiles and Zircon cruise missiles, Ukrainian authorities reported.

Seven workers of the Zaporizhstal steel plant were killed and a total of 24 injured in Zaporizhzhia.

One more civilian was injured in missile strikes on Kyiv.

Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground initially reported loud explosions in the capital and the southern city of Zaporizhzhia at around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 11, as Russia launched simultaneous attacks on both cities.

At around the same time, Ukraine's Air Force warned that Russian ballistic missiles were targeting Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv.

In its morning update, the Air Force reported that Russia had used Iskander ballistic missiles, KN-23 ballistic missiles of North Korean origin, as well as Zircon cruise missiles. The exact number of each type of missile was not reported, and none were reported to have been shot down.

"We heard around 10 explosions, I believe they were ballistic missiles," a Kyiv Independent reporter in Zaporizhzhia said at the time of the attack. "We just had one bad blast that shook the whole building like an earthquake."

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Ivan Fedorov confirmed that Russian forces targeted the regional center with ballistic missiles and guided aerial bombs. The attack damaged homes and other buildings and caused fires and power outages, he said.

Later in the day, Ukrainian steel giant Metinvest announced that seven workers of the Zaporizhstal steel plant were killed in the attack.

The plant, one of the largest steel plants not destroyed by Russia's war, has completely stopped production while assessment of the damage is carried out, Metinvest said.

A total of 52 civilians were wounded in Russian attacks across Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Fedorov said.

Later, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that both Zircons and North Korean ballistic missiles were used on Zaporizhzhia.

After a brief lull in the attacks, the air raid alert in Zaporizhzhia was lifted before authorities issued another warning over the threat of Russian drones.

Kyiv Independent reporters heard several loud explosions in the capital, some of which seemed to be near the city center.

Earlier in the night, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned residents that the capital was under attack and urged people to seek shelter.

Medics had been dispatched to an attack site in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district, where local authorities later reported that a warehouse had been damaged, the mayor added.

Russia has dramatically escalated its missile campaign against Ukraine during the summer of 2026 while the country's critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors leaves cities virtually defenseless against ballistic missiles.

On top of the attacks on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, at least eight people were killed and 54 more injured in Russian attacks on civilians across Ukraine, regional authorities reported on the morning of Aug. 11.

Three people were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and five others were injured in Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.

Two civilians, including a child, were killed and another 11 were injured in Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast, said regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

In front-line Donetsk Oblast, two people were killed and nine others injured by Russian attacks, regional governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

Regional authorities in Sumy Oblast reported one civilian killed — a 43-year-old man who succumbed to injuries from a strike on Aug. 9 — and 18 more wounded in attacks across the region.

Eleven people were injured as Russia attacked 16 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, regional authorities said.