The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has examined the wreckage of 21 of the approximately 50 North Korean ballistic missiles launched by Russia at Ukraine between late December and late February.
North Korean missile malfunctions
The Office of the Prosecutor General told Reuters that the malfunction rate of missiles from the DPRK was quite high.
About half of North Korea's missiles lost their programmed trajectories and exploded in midair; in such cases, the debris was not recovered, the prosecutor general of Ukraine said in a written response to a Reuters request.
Overall, North Korea's missiles account for a small share of Russia's strikes on Ukraine.
The last recorded use of the North Korean KN-23 took place on February 27.
In total, North Korea has delivered about 50 ballistic missiles to Russia.
Prosecutors have collected the wreckage of 21 missiles, including three that hit Kyiv and its surroundings. Others hit Kharkiv, Poltava, Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions.
Missile attacks using these weapons began on 30 December 2023. North Korean missiles killed 24 people, injured 115, and damaged a number of residential buildings and industrial facilities.
About 50 missiles were launched from the western regions of Russia - Belgorod, Voronezh and Kursk.
The world's reaction to Russia's use of missiles from the DPRK
Russia's use of these missiles has caused alarm in Seoul and Washington. According to Reuters, this could mean the end of nearly 20 years of consensus among the permanent members of the UN Security Council to prevent Pyongyang from expanding its nuclear and missile programmes.
In addition to enabling North Korea to test missiles, Russia has complicated UN monitoring of sanctions imposed on Pyongyang in 2006.
In April, Moscow vetoed the annual renewal of UN observers' monitoring of compliance with UN sanctions on North Korea.
China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council along with Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, abstained from voting.
A few days before the end of its term, the commission submitted a report in which it confirmed for the first time that a North Korean-made Hwasong-11 ballistic missile had hit Kharkiv in violation of UN sanctions.
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