It has been claimed that Russia has launched at least 24 North Korean short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) since December 30 last year, killing more than 14 Ukrainian civilians.
According to Reuters on the 16th (local time), Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin announced the results of the preliminary investigation in parliament. President Kostin said, “Only two out of 24 shots were accurate,” adding, “The accuracy of the missiles is questionable.”
According to the announcement, the North Korean missile models used in the Ukraine attack were ‘KN-23’ and ‘KN-24’. These are ballistic missiles developed by North Korea, modeled after Russia’s ‘Iskander’ missile and the US’ ‘Atequms’ missile, respectively.
The head of the Kharkiv Police Department’s Investigation Department said that Korean letters were found on fragments of weapons fired by Russia toward Ukraine. (Facebook of the Head of the Investigation Department of the Kharkiv Police Department)Although North Korea and Russia deny arms trade between each other, evidence continues to emerge that the Russian military is using North Korean weapons in the war.
On the 14th, the Ukrainian National Police said, “Russia continues to use North Korean weapons in the Kharkiv region,” and posted a photo of the remains of an artillery shell with the Korean text “Suntaji-2shin” engraved on it. The remains were discovered on a farm in Kharkiv and were said to be fragments of a shell detonator.
The Conflict Arms Research Institute (CAR), a British weapons watchdog, recently disclosed in a report that there were letters written on what appeared to be the Korean alphabet ‘Jipp’ (ㅈ) on parts of the wreckage of a ballistic missile that Russia launched against Ukraine on the 2nd of last month.
Previously, on the 4th of last month, the United States also announced that Russia had received ballistic missiles, including the ‘KN-23’ and ‘KN-24’, from North Korea, and had already used some of them to attack Ukraine.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.