North Korea supplies Russia with KN-23 missiles, which are used for attacks on the territory of Ukraine. So far, the use of about 60 such missiles has been recorded.
Points of attention
- Russia uses KN-23 missiles supplied by the DPRK for attacks on the territory of Ukraine.
- According to Ukrainian special services, Russia has already used about 60 North Korean-made missiles.
- The missiles contain foreign components produced by companies from the People's Republic of China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.
- It is necessary to strengthen control over the export of components for the production of weapons to avoid their use in aggressive actions.
- The situation with missiles from the DPRK is a serious threat to the security of Ukraine, and it is necessary to take measures to prevent it.
How many North Korean missiles did Russia use against Ukraine
As the representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Chernyak, reported, Russia has already used about 60 North Korean-made KN-23 ballistic missiles.
These missiles are developed on the basis of outdated technologies, which negatively affects their accuracy.
In addition to missiles, Russia receives significant amounts of artillery ammunition from the DPRK, which is calculated in the millions.
We constantly monitor the movement of cargo and containers that are likely to contain artillery munitions produced or stored by North Korea. This poses a great threat to Ukraine, Chernyak noted.
He also emphasized that, despite its own considerable military resources, Russia actively attracts ammunition supplied from North Korea.
Russia is shelling Ukraine with North Korean-made missiles with foreign components
According to the GUR, 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.
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, in the Kyiv region, a four-year-old boy and his father were killed by KN-23/KN-24 debris, and three more citizens were injured, said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Central Security Service.
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.
