Ukraine says Russia has deployed North Korean missile unit with up to 120 rockets
Ukrainian intelligence reports that Russia is stationing a North Korean ballistic-missile unit in the Voronezh region, equipped with up to 120 missiles and six launchers, as part of an expanding military partnership.
Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence said Russia has begun deploying a North Korean missile unit in its western Voronezh region. The unit is reported to include six launchers and up to 120 ballistic missiles, with about 90 North Korean personnel assigned to support it.
Andrii Cherniak, a senior official in the Ukrainian intelligence service, told Reuters that Pyongyang has already delivered a batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and that Russia has received roughly 150 of these missiles since late 2023. He added that the deployment will be finalized during high-level talks scheduled for next month.
The report follows a large Russian missile and drone barrage on Kyiv on Aug. 4, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said killed at least 17 people. Analysts note that Russia is increasingly relying on ballistic missiles, which require advanced air-defence systems such as the U.S.-made Patriot to intercept. The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Moscow is adding more ballistic weapons to its long-range strike packages to pressure Ukraine’s limited air-defence capabilities.
The United States-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies has documented extensive North Korean arms transfers to Russia since the 2022 invasion, including artillery shells, rocket ammunition and ballistic missiles. While thousands of North Korean troops remain in Russia’s Kursk region, they are not currently engaged in combat.