Russia used North Korean-made ballistic missiles to strike a key Ukrainian energy facility in an overnight attack on 6-7 November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, citing preliminary technical findings from the impact sites.

"According to preliminary findings, at one of the key energy facilities that was damaged, the Russians used KN-23 missiles manufactured and supplied by North Korea," Zelenskyy said on Saturday. The KN-23, known in North Korea as the Hwasong-11A, is a solid-fuel short-range ballistic missile that can be fired from a mobile launcher, with a range of about 690 kilometres according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Zelenskyy said Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight, and that Ukrainian air defences shot down only four of the missiles. He blamed the low interception rate on a shortage of interceptors for US-made Patriot air defence systems, a concern Germany's defence minister has also raised about dwindling stocks.

The barrage damaged substations that connect the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine, and hit further substations in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Ukraine's energy ministry said consumers in five regions lost power, and Kyiv's mayor said the capital faced disruption to heating and water supplies. Nine people were wounded, and a kindergarten, residential buildings and the North Bridge across the Dnipro river were damaged.

Russia's defence ministry said it had hit military-industrial, energy and transport targets in and around Kyiv, but made no mention of the KN-23. The strikes came three days before US-brokered talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators in Abu Dhabi on 10-11 November, which Zelenskyy said Moscow was trying to influence by stepping up attacks on the power grid as winter approaches.