North Korean missiles Russia used to attack Ukraine include US and European parts
North Korean missiles Russia used to attack Ukraine include US and European parts (csis.org)
North Korean missiles, which Russia has used several times to strike Ukraine, contain components from American and European companies, according to a report by Conflict Armament Research, CNN writes.
The UK-based organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR) examined 290 components of debris from a North Korean ballistic missile found in January in Kharkiv.
According to the research results, 75% of the components were developed and sold by companies registered in the US. Another 16% of the components found in the missile were associated with companies registered in Europe, while 9% with companies registered in Asia.
These components mainly constituted the missile navigation system, which was manufactured in North Korea.
The details studied by the researchers were manufactured between 2021 and 2023. Based on these production dates, CAR asserts that the missile “could not have been assembled before March 2023” and was already being used by Russia against Ukraine in January.
"North Korea has developed a robust acquisition network capable of circumventing, without detection, sanction regimes that have been in place for nearly two decades," the report says.
As CAR representatives told CNN, the organization will not disclose the names of the companies whose components were found in the missile because there is no evidence of deliberate shipments of components to North Korea.
Transfer of North Korean rockets to Russia
On January 4, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House, John Kirby, said that Russia had obtained ballistic missiles of North Korean origin. He said that the occupiers had already used such missiles to strike Ukraine.
Recently, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that Russians had already used at least 24 ballistic missiles of North Korean origin against Ukraine.
