North Korea's missiles, which Russia has used several times to strike Ukraine, contain components from American and European companies. In some ballistic units, up to 75% of parts are from leading US companies.
North Korea buys ballistic missile components from US companies
Analysts have caught Western companies selling parts to North Korea for the production of missiles with which Russia attacks peaceful cities in Ukraine.
This is stated in the Conflict Armament Research report, reports CNN.
The British organisation Conflict Armament Research (CAR) studied 290 components of the wreckage of a North Korean ballistic missile found in January in Kharkiv.
According to the study results, 75% of the components were developed and sold by companies registered in the USA. At the same time, another 16% of the elements found in the rocket were associated with companies registered in Europe, and 9% were associated with companies registered in Asia.
These components mainly comprised the missile's navigation system, developed in North Korea.
At the same time, the parts studied by the researchers were manufactured between 2021 and 2023. Based on these production dates, CAR claims that the missile "could not have been assembled before March 2023" and was already used by Russia against Ukraine in January.
North Korea has built a robust procurement network capable of bypassing nearly two decades of sanctions regimes, the report said.
As CAR representatives told CNN in a comment, the organisation will not disclose the names of the companies whose details were found in the missile. This is because there is no evidence of an intentional supply of components to North Korea.
Transfer of North Korean missiles to Russia for strikes on Ukraine
On January 4, the coordinator of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, spoke about the fact that Russia received ballistic missiles from North Korean production.
He said that the occupiers had already used such missiles to attack Ukraine.
The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andriy Kostin, said that in the period from December 30, 2023, to February 7, 2024, the enemy struck at least 12 North Korean missiles in seven regions of Ukraine.
We are talking about Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv (three attacks), Kharkiv (two attacks) and cities and villages in Kirovohrad, Poltava, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. These shellings killed 14 civilians and injured more than 70 others.
Andriy Kostin
Prosecutor General of Ukraine
He added that the attack that caused the most casualties among the civilian population took place on January 2, 2024, in Kharkiv: three people were killed, and 64 were injured as a result of shelling in the central part of the city.
