Ukraine is experiencing an increase in Russian ballistic missile attacks, with approximately one-third using North Korean weapons powered by Western electronics obtained despite sanctions, CNN reports. Ukrainian officials granted CNN rare access to weapon fragments, revealing significant US- and European-made or designed circuitry in their guidance systems.

According to a Ukrainian defense official, Russia has launched about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine in 2024, representing nearly one-third of the 194 ballistic missile attacks recorded by Ukraine’s air force this year.

Yuriy Ihnat, acting head of communications of the Ukrainian Air Force, told CNN:

“We see that since the spring, Russia has been using ballistic missiles and attack drones much more to strike Ukraine. And less use of cruise missiles.”

The Ukrainian prosecutor general informed CNN that strikes using North Korean missiles have resulted in 28 deaths and 213 injuries this year.

Ukrainian investigators examining missile debris discovered that crucial components are produced by nine Western manufacturers, including companies from the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. According to a recent report by Ukraine’s Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), some parts were manufactured as recently as 2023.

“Everything that works to guide the missile, to make it fly, is all foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it,” said Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory of Kyiv’s Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise.

A Ukrainian Defense Intelligence official, speaking anonymously, told CNN that approximately 70% of components are American-made. The UK-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR) found that 75% of components in one analyzed North Korean missile came from US-based companies.

Experts point to China as the likely intermediary for these components.

“We have successfully traced some of those components, and the last known custodians are Chinese companies,” Damien Spleeters, deputy director of operations at CAR, told CNN.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy, expressed hope that the incoming Trump administration would implement stronger controls over illicit trade.

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