In recent weeks, Ukraine has been subjected to massive missile attacks by the Russian army, with about a third of them using North Korean weapons, which can only fly because they operate on Western circuits obtained despite sanctions.
This year, Russia launched about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine, which is nearly a third of the 194 ballistic missiles fired in 2024, calculated by CNN based on official statements from the Ukrainian military. As a result of the strikes by North Korean missiles, at least 28 people have died and 213 have been injured this year, reported the Ukrainian Prosecutor General to CNN.
Ukrainian officials provided CNN with rare access to fragments of weapon debris, showing the extent of American and European-made or designed circuits in the guidance system.
The most important components used in North Korean missiles are produced by nine Western manufacturers, including companies from the USA, the Netherlands, and the UK, according to a recent report by the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission of Ukraine (NACO).
«Everything that works to control the missile, for its flight, — all these are foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it,» said Andrey Kulchytsky, head of the military research laboratory at the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. — «The only thing Korean there is the metal, which rusts quickly.»
A report by the British organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR), published earlier this year, states that 75% of the components of one of the first North Korean missiles used to attack Ukraine were produced by American companies.
According to weapons tracking experts, there is no reliable information on how exactly components reach North Korea. But all signs point to China as the likely conduit, experts say.
CAR and other organizations believe that the main problem lies with intermediary distribution companies, not manufacturers. According to CAR, there are more than 250 companies whose components have been found in North Korean missiles. But most of this electronics is sold to five main distributors based in the USA and Canada.
Ukrainian officials claim that one of the main problems is the poor enforcement of sanctions by Western countries.
«So far, none of the manufacturers have been held accountable for these supplies,» said Vladislav Vlasyuk, the Ukrainian President's Commissioner for Sanctions Policy, to CNN. This echoes the opinion of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which earlier this year accused American manufacturers of not doing enough to vet potential buyers, despite having sufficient «resources, funding, and knowledge.»
According to a representative of Ukrainian intelligence, components also continue to be redirected to Iran and directly to Russia. «Russia uses Western components in the entire segment of both lethal weapons and reconnaissance drones,» said the intelligence officer in an interview with CNN, noting that when one of the Russian heavy drones was shot down, it was found to be mostly made of American components.
Photo: Anadolu