Zelenskyy says a North Korean missile fired by Russia killed a family in central Ukraine

A large family is dead in central Ukraine. The missile that killed them wasn’t even Russian. It came from a supply chain that now runs through Moscow, Pyongyang, and Tehran.

Parents Artem and Olena Voronov and at least three of their children died when a ballistic missile fired by Russia flattened their home Thursday. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says preliminary evidence points to North Korea as the manufacturer.

“The alliance between Moscow’s scumbags and the deranged regime in North Korea exists for one reason: For missiles, for North Korean troops on our borders here in Europe, and for killing Ukrainian children,” Zelenskyy said.

The strike ends a months-long pause in Russia launching North Korean missiles over Ukraine. And it comes just days after Zelenskyy warned Russia is preparing to deploy up to 30,000 more North Korean troops.

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With Ukraine striking Russian oil infrastructure, Moscow is leaning more heavily on its axis with Pyongyang and Tehran. Iran has for years supplied the drones Russia uses on Ukrainian cities. U.S. officials say the traffic now runs both ways, with Russian drone technology headed back to Tehran.

Thursday’s attack also renewed another concern. A Russian cruise missile crashed in Poland — roughly 50 miles past the Ukrainian border, deep inside NATO territory — raising once again the question: How much will the West absorb before it pushes back more directly against the entire axis?

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