North Korean missile debris found in Ukraine: Defense intelligence report

Remnants of ballistic missiles produced in North Korea have been found throughout Ukraine, further confirming U.S. accusations that Pyongyang is arming Russia’s war effort, according to a new unclassified report released Wednesday by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Since November 2023, the west has assessed that North Korea has been providing artillery shells, rockets and missile to Russia to support the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine, a claim that Pyongyang has staunchly denied. The shipments from North Korea — formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) — is considered a violation of numerous U.N. sanctions on both countries.

Using publicly available images, DIA analysts confirmed debris found in Kharkiv on Jan. 2 is from a North Korean short-range missile. A side-by-side analysis of the pictures “shows that the missile debris in Ukraine is almost certainly of a North Korean ballistic missile,” according to the report.

Ukrainian officials earlier in January identified fragments of North Korean missiles, including the short-range Hwasong 11, which can fly as far as around 430 miles and is also known as the KN-23.

The brief 12-page DIA report also highlights the evolving and strengthening relationship between Pyongyang and Moscow.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un first met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2023, a gathering U.S. officials say led to North Korea supplying Moscow with artillery rounds and rockets in return for critical technology and food.

By November, South Korean lawmakers estimated that Pyongyang had sent a million shells to Russia as well as rockets and ballistic missiles.

Such a military alliance is valuable between the two countries, as it keeps Russia entrenched in the grinding war in Ukraine while bolstering North Korea’s nuclear and space ambitions.

“Pyongyang’s ongoing development of new military capabilities indicates the regime will pursue its defense modernization goals for the foreseeable future, which Russia is postured to support as a result of growing ties,” the report notes.

North Korea appears eager for such a win after a series of setbacks, including Monday’s explosion of a spy satellite launch just minutes after liftoff. The incident was the third such failure in Pyongyang’s last four attempts to put a satellite into orbit.

That defeat set off an angry barrage of North Korea ballistic missiles — at least 10 fired from Pyongyang into the Sea of Japan on Thursday, according to the South Korean military.