North Korean KN-23s involved? Air Force reveals unexpected feature of Russia's attack
Photo: Yurii Ihnat, Head of Communications of the Ukrainian Air Force (facebook.com/yuriy.ignat)
Russia may have used North Korean KN-23 missiles, which follow a ballistic trajectory, in its overnight attack on Ukraine, states Yurii Ihnat, head of communications for the Ukrainian Air Force, according to Suspilne.
Ihnat confirmed that Russian forces used Onyx and Zircon anti-ship missiles in the latest attack, both of which can follow a ballistic flight path.
"Along with Iskander-M missiles, S-400s, and KN-23s. Even North Korean missiles have now appeared in the reports because our duty forces and intelligence do not rule out the possibility that this particular North Korean missile variant was used. It had not appeared in our reports for quite some time, but today it surfaced again," Ihnat said.
According to him, Russia has begun mixing different types of ballistic missiles because its own stockpiles are also being depleted rapidly.
Moscow is aware that Ukraine is currently facing a shortage of interceptor missiles capable of engaging ballistic targets and is therefore increasingly relying on such attacks.
"The enemy is supplementing conventional Iskander-M ballistic missiles with S-400 missiles. The S-400 is a surface-to-air guided missile designed to engage aerial targets, but the Russians are using it for ground strikes. As for the KN-23, there is currently no confirmation that it was used, but the possibility cannot be ruled out," Ihnat explained.
One important detail is that, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched nine ballistic missiles — Iskander-M, S-400, and KN-23 variants — at Ukraine overnight on July 30. Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept only one of them.
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine explained how Ukraine's air defense responded to Russia's latest large-scale attack on July 30.
It also emerged that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile entered Polish airspace during the assault.
