Russia attacks Ukraine with North Korean missiles containing Western parts – CNN

Ukraine is under attack from North Korean missiles that may be fitted with Western components.

Source: CNN citing sources

Details: The report states that about a third of the missiles used by Russia to attack Ukraine are North Korean and equipped with Western components obtained in violation of sanctions.

A representative of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said that this year Russia has used about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles against Ukraine. CNN estimates this represents almost a third of the 194 ballistic missiles fired.

August and September saw a rise in ballistic missile attacks when Ukraine first publicly disclosed the use of the KN-23.

CNN adds that Ukrainian officials have since provided them with access to fragments of weapon debris that show the apparent extent of US and European circuitry in their guidance systems.

A recent report by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission of Ukraine (NAKO) states that nine Western manufacturers, including companies from the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, produce critical components used in North Korean missiles. Some of the parts analysed from the KN-23/24 missiles were manufactured as early as 2023, indicating that they were being delivered to North Korea at a rapid pace.

CNN was shown one of the warehouses where Ukrainian investigators are analysing pieces of wreckage, looking for small details that indicate the origin of the weapons.

The warehouse was full of damaged drones and burnt-out missile parts, and hundreds of microchips were stored in different buildings, carefully sorted by weapon type – Shahed drones, Iskander missiles, and KN-23 missiles.

"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 Andrii Kulchytskyi, head of the military research laboratory of Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise.

"The only thing Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes," he added.

A representative from Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), speaking on condition of anonymity, said that their investigations appear to be complicated by the damage to the missile fragments but that it is still possible to determine that "the vast majority of components are Western components. Probably 70% are American, from well-known companies... They also use components made in Germany and Switzerland."

A report published earlier this year by the UK-based investigative organisation Conflict Armament Research (CAR) found that 75% of the components of one of the first North Korean missiles used to attack Ukraine were made by US-based companies.

Arms tracing experts say there is no reliable information on how the components get to North Korea. But all indications are that China is a likely supply channel, experts say.

"We have successfully traced some of those components, and the last known custodians are Chinese companies," said Damien Spleeters, deputy director of operations at CAR, which independently documents diverted weapons. This means that Chinese companies bought components from manufacturers and a number of intermediaries.

CAR and others believe the main problem is the intermediary companies, not the manufacturers.

There are more than 250 companies whose components have been found in North Korean missiles. However, five major distributors based in the US and Canada sell most of these electronics.

The US Commerce Department has already tightened controls on companies and shell companies that supply sanctioned goods to Russia and Belarus.

Ukrainian officials claim that one of the main problems is poor compliance with sanctions by Western countries.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian President's Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, expressed hope that the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will try to tighten control over illegal trade.

"No manufacturers’ entities have been held responsible for any of these supplies yet. We think that if any of these … manufacturers would be held responsible for the quantity of microelectronics found, say, in Russian missiles hitting Ukraine, (they) would really, really start to do more in that regard," Vlasiuk told CNN.

This echoes the views of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which earlier this year criticised US manufacturers for not doing enough to vet potential buyers despite having sufficient "resources, funding, and knowledge".

The anonymous DIU official said that the diversion of components to Iran and directly to Russia also continues.

"Russia uses Western components in the whole segment of both lethal weapons and reconnaissance drones," the DIU source told CNN, noting that the downing of one of Russia's heavy drones, the Okhotnik, showed that it was made mainly of US components. "We also need to do the appropriate work to close these supply channels," he said.

Background:

• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on allies to tighten sanctions and export controls after the discovery of freshly manufactured Western components in a North Korean missile shot down in Ukraine.
• Western intelligence believes that half of the approximately 3 million artillery shells per year used by Russia come from North Korea.
• Evidence of new deliveries of North Korean ballistic missiles to Moscow also emerged in September.

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