On 7 February, Russia used North Korean missiles to strike the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to a Kharkiv regional police chief Serhiy Bolvinov.
Facing a shortage of domestically-produced ammunition and restricted access to global markets, Russia has turned to North Korea for help in order to wage the war in Ukraine. In exchange, Moscow has assisted Pyongyang in unfreezing some of its assets in international banks. North Korea possesses nuclear weapons and periodically threatens the US.
“2 out of 5 missiles fired at Kharkiv in the morning are of North Korean origin,” Bolvinov wrote on Facebook.
He added that according to preliminary findings by experts, these are North Korean KN-23 (HVASON 11GA) missiles.
On 6 February, during a UN Security Council meeting, US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood stated that according to American data, Russia has already used at least nine North Korean-made missiles against Ukraine. This is confirmed by Ukraine as well – at first fragments of artillery shells were found at the sites of shelling, and more recently fragments of ballistic missiles.
The foreign ministers of the US and another fifty countries in a joint statement strongly condemned the transfer of missiles from North Korea to Russia. This violates sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, which Russia also voted for.
Russia and North Korea deny that Pyongyang is supplying Moscow with ammunition.
Read more:
- Russian missile assault kills one, injures at least 16 civilians, including a pregnant woman
- Two-month-old baby killed in Russian missile attack on Kharkiv Oblast
- Russia targeted Kyiv with at least one North Korean ballistic missile in recent attack (photos)
- Russia hit Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast with Iskander-M missile
