Reuters: According to the HUR, a North Korean missile unit is being transferred to western Russia for russia’s war against Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
According to the HUR, Russia plans to deploy a North Korean missile unit with 120 missiles and six launchers. This is an expansion of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
A North Korean missile unit has begun deploying in western Russia and may be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers for strikes against Ukraine, a Ukrainian Defense Ministry intelligence official said, Reuters reports, writes UNN.
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"Ukraine is experiencing an acute shortage of highly effective air defense systems, and Russia is trying to take advantage of this by using more ballistic missiles, which are particularly difficult to shoot down," the publication writes.
Since the end of 2023, Russia has fired dozens of North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine, but, the publication notes, the deployment of North Korean missile forces would be an expansion of the already extensive military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Andrii Cherniak of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate said that "Russia plans to deploy a missile unit of about 90 North Korean servicemen in Russia's western Voronezh region, as part of its 112th Missile Brigade."
"Pyongyang has already sent a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and personnel to Russia, but the deployment configuration and the total number of missiles will be finalized in high-level negotiations next month," he said.
"Russia expects the deployment to include 120 North Korean ballistic missiles and six launchers," he said.
It is unclear what exact role the North Koreans will play in Russia's missile operations, the publication writes.
"The deployment described by Cherniak appears to coincide with last week, when Russia launched its first two North Korean missiles at Ukraine since August last year," the publication says.
North Korea became a close ally of Russia after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the two countries signed a mutual defense pact in 2024.
North Korea has supplied millions of artillery shells for Russia's war effort and sent 14,000 servicemen to Russia's Kursk region, Ukrainian officials say.
Last week, a North Korean missile leveled a residential building in the village of Radushne, killing at least five members of one family.
Cherniak said that last week's strike was the first recorded use of North Korean ballistic missiles since August 2025, and that it involved a new batch of 40 missiles, confirming previous Reuters reports.
North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 missiles have a longer range and a larger payload than the Russian Iskander equivalent, but are far less accurate and are associated with strikes causing a high number of civilian casualties, Ukrainian military sources report.
The use of KN-23/24 missiles fits a pattern in which Russia has sought to use more ballistic missiles, such as its 9M723 Iskanders, which can be stopped only by American Patriot air defense systems.
Russia began shelling Ukraine with KN-23 and KN-24 missiles at the end of 2023. North Korea supplied 150 missiles between the end of 2023 and August 2025, Cherniak said.
He said that about 9,500 North Korean troops are in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, but that they are not currently directly participating in military operations against Ukraine.
Last month, Zelenskyy said that the Kremlin wants North Korea to send another 30,000 servicemen and that Russia is preparing to receive them in the Voronezh region.