According to the US government, Russia used missiles from North Korea in its war of aggression against Ukraine. National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said yesterday at the White House that, according to US information, Pyongyang recently delivered ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles to Moscow.
At the turn of the year, the Russian armed forces fired several of these missiles at Ukraine. He announced that this would be addressed in the UN Security Council. Russia has veto rights in that country. There is no statement from Moscow or Pyongyang.
Kirby: Violation of UN sanctions
North Korea's arms sales to Russia constituted a violation of UN sanctions imposed on the East Asian country, he stressed.
According to Kirby, one of the North Korean missiles was fired at southern Ukraine on December 30. The projectile landed in an open field in the Zaporizhia region. On January 2, the Russian military used “several” North Korean missiles in heavy airstrikes. The spokesman added that Russia also plans to buy missiles from Iran.
The US has previously reported deliveries of North Korean weapons to Russia in recent months. Russia is using enormous quantities of weapons and ammunition in its war of aggression against Ukraine and, according to experts, is unable to keep up with their production in its own country.
Expert: “Smuggling machine works in reverse”
There has been arms cooperation between Russia and North Korea – as well as between Russia and Iran – for a relatively long time, said military strategist Gustav Gressel of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank in an interview with ZIB2. This used to happen secretly.
“Individual engines, subcomponents for ballistic missiles, for example, were sent to North Korea, repainted there and then sold to the world as North Korean products,” the expert said. “Now this smuggling route is reversed,” he continued.