North Korean missiles hit Ukraine for first time

Kharkiv region target of latest strikes with weapons that had markings scrubbed off by Russians

RUSSIA has used North Korean missiles to bombard Ukraine for the first time, with barrages targeting the eastern region of Kharkiv.

Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkiv’s governor, yesterday said Moscow’s forces had scrubbed off markings from the high-velocity projectiles that identified where they were produced. “But what we can see is that the country which produced it is not the Russian Federation,” he added.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said: “There is no longer any disguise ... as part of its outright genocidal war, the Russian Federation for the first time struck at the territory of Ukraine with missiles received from ... North Korea.” He added: “[Russia] is attacking Ukrainians with missiles received from a state where citizens are tortured in concentration camps for having an unregistered radio, talking to a tourist, watching TV shows.”

‘Ukraine has a limited ability to defend against ... strikes on other cities’

Russia is believed to have been supplied with dozens of short-range ballistic missiles and launchers from North Korea, according to American intelligence. Britain said that Moscow resorting to Pyongyang for weapons to fuel its invasion was a sign of Vladimir Putin’s increasing international isolation.

“The UK strongly condemns Russia’s decision to use ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea in recent attacks against Ukraine. We urge North Korea to cease its arms supply to Russia,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. “Russia is turning to North Korea for its weapons in pursuit of its cynical and ill-conceived military aims in Ukraine. This is symptomatic of its isolation on the world stage and a sign of its desperation.”

The procurement of extra ballistic missiles by Russian forces is expected to significantly test Ukraine’s air defences. While Ukraine has effective air-defence capabilities to counter Iranian-made drones and cruise missiles, its forces depend on a limited number of Patriot batteries to intercept ballistic missiles.

“Aside from Kyiv, Ukraine has a limited ability to defend against ballistic missile strikes on other cities,” said Rob Lee, a senior policy fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a Washington think tank.

Earlier this week, American intelligence officials unveiled a map demonstrating Russian forces had used North Korean missiles to target Zaporizhzhia in Southern Ukraine last Saturday. It is not yet known what impact the two North Korean missiles had on the battlefield, with one landing in an empty field and the second used as part of a larger aerial bombardment.

“We expect Russia and North Korea to learn from these launches – and we

‘We will not allow countries to aid Russia’s war machine in secret’

anticipate that Russia will use additional North Korean missiles to target Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and to kill innocent Ukrainian civilians,” the White House spokesman John Kirby said of the recent strikes. He said the missiles have a range of about 550 miles and its transfer violates a number of UN Security Council resolutions.

“We will not allow countries to aid Russia’s war machine in secret,” he added.

In November, South Korea accused its northern neighbour of supplying multiple weapons to Russia, including anti-tank missiles and portable anti-air systems. Seoul also declassified intelligence to demonstrate that Pyongyang had delivered about one million 155mm artillery shells to Moscow.

Despite the criticism and need for imported weaponry, Russia has found it easier to procure long-range ballistic missiles than Ukraine.

Germany is still refusing to send its air-launched Taurus cruise missile, while Washington has only provided the short-range version of its Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).