In a recent development in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukrainian officials have presented what they claim to be evidence that Russian forces used missiles supplied by North Korea in a strike on Ukraine’s Kharkhiv region. The Kharkiv prosecutor’s office showcased fragments of the missile, which they claim are of North Korean origin, to substantiate their allegations.
This claim was first put forth by a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Dmytro Chubenko, spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, said the missile, one of several that hit the city of Kharkhiv on January 2, was visually and technically different from Russian models. “The production method is not very modern.
There are deviations from standard Iskander missiles, which we previously saw during strikes on Kharkhiv. This missile is similar to one of the North Korean missiles,” Chubenko told media as he displayed the remnants. He said the missile was slightly bigger in diameter than the Russian Iskander missile, while its nozzle, internal electrical windings, and rear parts were also different.
“That is why we are leaning towards the version that this may be a missile which was supplied by North Korea.” Chubenko declined to give the missile’s exact model name. The aerial assault, which resulted in two reported deaths and injuries to more than 60 others, was one of the biggest missile and drone strikes launched by the Russian military since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Pyongyang has been under a United Nations weapons embargo since it first tested a nuclear bomb in 2006. UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions — approved with Russian support — ban countries from trading weapons or other military equipment with North Korea.
