According to the DIU, the DPRK transferred to Russia more than 100 units of various types of equipment, including 170-mm self-propelled guns M-1989 and 240-mm RSZV M-1991, 100 units of KN23 missiles and at least 5 million shells. Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, announced this.
Points of attention
- Russia received more than 100 pieces of equipment from North Korea, including missiles and shells with foreign components.
- The DPRK's supply of missiles to Russia led to tragic events in Kyiv and the Kyiv region.
- It is necessary to strengthen the control over the export of components for the production of weapons to avoid their illegal use.
- Expanding the production capacity of the North Korean missile factory may increase the threat to Ukraine from Russia.
Missiles from North Korea continue to contain Western components
So, according to the analyst, on January 2, 2024, four people died as a result of a ballistic missile from North Korea hitting a Kyiv high-rise building.
On August 11, 2024, a four-year-old boy and his father were killed by KN-23/KN-24 debris in the Kyiv region, and three more citizens were injured.
Andriy Kovalenko
Head of the CPD
Among the components of the KN23 missile was found a voltage converter with the marking of the British manufacturer "XP Power", which was manufactured in February 2023.
Also, the missiles contain foreign components produced by companies from five countries — China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
It is important that Western governments strengthen export controls on weapons components and technology. It is necessary to make it impossible to re-export them to the Russian Federation, Belarus, Iran, and the DPRK.
Unfortunately, the enemy is increasingly using ballistics from the DPRK against civilians, Kovalenko reports.
What is known about one of the largest factories in the DPRK
North Korea is actively expanding the production capacity of a key plant where short-range missiles are assembled, which are transferred to Russia.
The plant, known as February 11, is part of the Ranson machine-building complex in the city of Hamkhin, the second largest in North Korea.
This facility is the only known enterprise that manufactures Hwasong-11 class solid rockets.
According to satellite images taken by the Planet Labs company, in October, a new workshop and residential complexes for employees are being built on the territory of the plant. In addition, the modernization of the entrances to the underground premises is noticeable: the old bridge crane, which prevented access to the tunnels, was removed.
Experts emphasize that such missiles, although used in limited quantities, can be useful for Russia in the war against Ukraine, allowing it to compensate for the deficit of its own production capacity.
