Russian troops have already launched at least 24 North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles over Ukraine. These are preliminary data, as informed Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
"During the period from December 30, 2023 to February 7, 2024, the enemy made at least 12 strikes on seven regions of Ukraine with this type of missile. 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 over 70 more," he said.
According to him, the largest simultaneous use of missiles from the DPRK was on February 7. They hit Kyiv (one missile), Pavlohrad and Kharkiv (two missiles each). All of them missed the target. The NK-23 strike, which caused the most civilian casualties, took place on January 2. It was Kharkiv when three people died and 64 were injured.
The findings of the Central Research Institute of Armaments of the Ministry of Defense and the Interdepartmental Group at the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office confirm that the indicated missiles were North Korean. According to the analysis of the wreckage and remains, the NK-23 has a larger diameter than similar models of Russian and Soviet origin of the Iskander type, and has high-explosive warheads with a capacity of 500-1 000 kg in TNT equivalent. The maximum range of missiles is up to 650 km.
Kostin says that the Russians launched the missiles from the Voronezh region. Their accuracy is questionable. Out of 24 fired, only two relatively accurately hit the specified coordinates. The rest had errors of several kilometers, and some exploded in the air.
- In January 2023, the United States released evidence that North Korea had been supplying Russia with weapons since at least November 2022. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov stated at the beginning of 2024 that the DPRK is now the largest supplier of weapons to Russia.
- On January 4, 2024, Western media wrote that Russia had received a batch of ballistic missiles from North Korea (several dozen) and launchers for them. On the same day, the US officially announced that Russia had short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea and had launched them into Ukraine — the first on December 30, 2023 (fell in Zaporizhzhia) and several others on January 2 during a massive missile attack. On January 10, South Koreaʼs ambassador to the UN said that North Korea uses Ukraine as a testing ground for its ballistic missiles with the help of Russia.