Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine since the beginning of the year. The missiles contained components from nine Western manufacturers, including the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Since the beginning of the year, Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles with Western components, some of which were manufactured in 2023, at Ukraine. The only Korean component in these missiles is metal, which rusts quickly. This was written by CNNand reported by UNN.
Details
According to the publication, this year Russia has launched about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine, which is almost one in three of the 194 ballistic missiles launched so far in 2024.
“We see that since the spring, Russia has been using ballistic missiles and attack drones much more to strike Ukraine. And there is less use of cruise missiles,” Yuriy Ihnat, acting chief of communications of the Ukrainian Air Force, told CNN.
The publication notes that, according to a recent report by the Ukrainian Independent Anti-Corruption Commission, key components used in North Korean missiles are produced by nine Western manufacturers, including companies based in the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Some parts of the missiles were manufactured as recently as 2023, indicating that they could be delivered to North Korea quickly.
“Everything that works to control the rocket, to make it fly, is all foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean about it. The only thing that is Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes,” Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the military research laboratory of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise, said in a commentary to the publication.
The Ukrainian intelligence service told the newspaper that, according to investigations, “the vast majority of components are Western.
The publication, citing experts, notes that there is no reliable information on how the components get to North Korea, but all signs point to China as a likely channel.
“We have successfully traced some of these components, and the last known custodians are Chinese companies,” said CAR Deputy Director of Operations Damien Splitters.
Recall
Experts from the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise) found that Russia used, among other things, North Korean ballistic missiles of the KN-23/24 type during the combined attack on Ukraine on November 13.
According to the experts of KFI, the KN-23 combines both modern technologies and solutions from the last century. A significant percentage of the microelectronics is manufactured in China, Taiwan, the United States, and other countries. Probably, launches are carried out from North Korean-made launchers, as it would be much more difficult to adapt Russian systems.
Add
Earlier, experts from KFI spoke about the technical features of North Korean missiles used by Russia to attack Ukraine.
The Kyiv IndependentAlisa Yurchenko
