North Korea Supply Russia With Ballistic Missiles for Use Against Ukraine
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U.S. officials have revealed that North Korea supplied not only conventional artillery shells but also ballistic missiles to Russia which then were fired at Ukraine.
John Kirby, the White House National Security Council (NSC) Strategic Communications Coordinator announced in a briefing on the 4th (local time) that Russia recently used ballistic missiles received from North Korea to attack Ukraine.
Previously, the White House had revealed in October last year that North Korea had sent more than 1,000 containers of weapons to Russia. These were believed to be primarily conventional artillery shells, but it turns out they also included ballistic missiles.
Coordinator Kirby explained that Russia fired at least one North Korean ballistic missile at Ukraine on the 30th of last month and also used multiple North Korean ballistic missiles in night raids targeting Ukraine on the 2nd of this year.
He said, “The missile Russia launched last month is believed to have fallen in the Zaporizhia region and the impact of the missile launched on the 2nd is currently under evaluation.” He continued, “We expect Russia to further use North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and kill innocent Ukrainian civilians. The range of North Korean ballistic missiles is about 560 miles,” he revealed.
The United States plans to respond strongly as the arms trade with North Korea violates UN Security Council resolutions. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN said in a statement, “It is unacceptable for Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council to violate its obligation to comply with the sanctions on North Korean weapons,” and revealed that she will raise this issue at the Security Council on the 10th.
By. Hong Woo Yoon
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