There could have been a North Korean missile strike: are the Russians now capable of bypassing Ukrainian air defense?

The United States said that Russia could attack Ukraine with North Korean missiles. If the information is confirmed, it will not pose a particular challenge to our air defense, but only under certain conditions.

This opinion 24 Channelexpressed military-political observer of the Information Resistance group Alexander Kovalenko, adding that these missiles will not be able to bypass air defense if it includes a Patriot air defense system or a SAMP/T air defense system. According to him, there is a possibility that the Russians will use missiles from the DPRK.

What is the difference between the missiles of Russia and the DPRK

On January 2, the occupiers struck Kharkov with a ballistic weapon that was very similar to the Iskander tactical missile system. Corresponding debris was found from it. Only official structures can comment on their origin, but some conclusions can be drawn.

This should not be taken as official information, but as a citizen I can say that the wreckage we saw differs from the Iskander OTRK missiles, in particular in the shape of the gas-dynamic rudders on the tail. They were much smaller in size, and also had a rectangular shape with cut off corners, which corresponds to the North Korean KN-23, suggested Alexander Kovalenko.

At the same time, the Russian Iskander has precisely these elements that are much larger and have a rounded shape. However, official information can only be provided by structures that had direct access to these missiles.

Judging by what I saw, I can assume that it was a North Korean KN-23 missile, which was presented in 2019. In its shape and characteristics, it is very similar to the Russian one, but has slight differences, said the military-political observer.

He added that North Korean missiles are very similar to weapons produced by Iran. In particular, this country made “Shaheds”, copies of Israeli ones. In turn, Israeli drones have been a licensed version of German drones since the 1980s. They were used to combat the Soviet Buk air defense systems.

Also, North Korean missiles are based not only on Soviet technology, but also on Chinese ones. No need to say that all this is Soviet, no, it evolved thanks to Chinese and Russian technologies,” Kovalenko emphasized.

The DPRK had the opportunity to modernize ballistic missiles after 2014. At this time, Russia concentrated all its attention on eastern Ukraine. In 2019, new developments appeared, but, unfortunately, there was no response from the West.

North Korea supplies weapons to Russia: what is known

• The White House said that Russia hit the territory of Ukraine with ballistic missiles received from the DPRK. According to American officials, the first strike occurred on December 30, 2023, when the occupiers used the first missile. Then, on January 2, 2024, several missiles struck at once; its consequences are still being assessed. White House spokesman John Kirby added that the weapons would be a major strengthening for Russia.
• Because of the possible use of North Korean missiles, the UN Security Council will meet. It was scheduled for January 10th. The United States stated that it has information about new weapons that Russia is receiving from third countries.
• The Air Force noted that Russia uses different missiles for its strikes, so it is not yet possible assert that the aggressor used missiles from the DPRK. Yuri Ignat added that the ballistics fall, explode and break into small fragments. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whose missile came from Russia or North Korea.