North Korea deploys a missile unit in Russia

Ukraine is currently lacking high-end air defence, which is being exploited by Russian ballistic missile attacks. According to Reuters, Moscow has been making use of North Korean equipment since late 2023; however, a literal missile unit deployment was yet to occur.

Andrii Cherniak from Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence claims Russia planned to base the aforementioned unit of around 90 North Korean personnel in the western region of Voronezh, within its 112^th Missile Brigade. The exact role of the personnel is not fully known for now. The deployment will involve 120 North Korean ballistic missiles (most likely KN-23 and KN-24) and six launchers.

According to Rob Lee from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the North Korean resources are a significant threat to Kyiv. “Ballistic missile defence is one of Ukraine’s greatest vulnerabilities, so any increase in the quantities of ballistic missiles they face will pose a greater challenge. A particularly big concern for Ukraine will be the state of its air defences this winter, when Russia could again target the power grid with heavy attacks as in past years,” he said.

North Korea has been an eager supporter of Russian endeavours in Ukraine for some time now. Both sides signed a mutual defence pact in 2024. Pyongyang supplied Moscow with millions of artillery shells and sent around 14,000 troops to Russia’s Kursk region to repel the Ukrainian ground offensive, Ukrainian officials say.

North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 have a greater range and larger payload than Russian Iskander missiles. They are, however, much less accurate and, according to Ukrainian military sources, using them results in high civilian death tolls. As said before, high-end air defence equipment is required to intercept this kind of weapon, and Ukraine is currently lacking consistent access to such systems.