Foreign components made in 2023 were found in North Korean missiles used by Russia to hit Ukraine - DIU

Foreign components made in 2023 were found in North Korean missiles used by Russia to hit Ukraine - DIU

Kyiv  •  UNN

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Components from five countries manufactured in 2023 were found in the North Korean KN-23/KN-24 missiles used by Russia to attack Ukraine. russia received more than 100 such missiles from the DPRK and uses them against civilian targets.

North Korean KN-23/KN-24 missiles, which Russia uses to strike at the territory of our country, have foreign components made in 2023. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, UNN reports.

“The War&Sanctions portal has published another list of foreign-made components found in  North Korean KN-23/KN-24 ballistic missiles. 

The aggressor state of Russia has received more than 100 such missiles from the DPRK. The enemy first used this weapon in the war against Ukraine at the end of 2023,” the GUR reported .

It is noted that along with the missiles, Pyongyang then sent its military specialists to Russia, who serviced the launchers and actually participated in war crimes against Ukraine. 

Civilian Ukrainians have repeatedly become victims of KN-23/KN-24 strikes both in frontline communities and in settlements far from the contact line. In particular, on January 2, 2024, a North Korean missile hit a Kyiv high-rise building, killing four people. On August 11, 2024, a four-year-old boy and his father were killed in the Kyiv region by the debris of KN-23/KN-24, and three other citizens  were injured.

The KN-23/KN-24 missile  used by Russia against Ukraine contained foreign components manufactured by companies from five countries - China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. At least one of them - a voltage converter labeled by the British manufacturer XP Power - was manufactured in February 2023, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine

According to intelligence, in order to obtain technologies for their weapons programs,  the aggressor state of Russia and its allies, the DPRK and Iran, use joint schemes to circumvent international sanctions, which requires an appropriate response, in particular, strengthening export control mechanisms. 

The DIU recalled that earlier the War&Sanctions portal published a list  of components and parts found in KN-23/KN-24 missiles manufactured by 19 companies from seven countries - the United States, China, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

Add

Experts from the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise (Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise) foundthat 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 KFI experts, 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. It is likely that the launches are carried out from North Korean-made launchers, as it would be much more difficult to adapt Russian systems.

Recall

Earlier, experts from KFI told about the technical features of North Korean missiles that Russia uses to attack Ukraine.