Russia used missile supplied by N Korea in Ukraine: Research body tells UN

NEW DELHI: The conflict armament research on Friday told the United Nations Security Council that the missile that struck Ukraine came from North Korea.
Jonah Leff, executive director of Conflict Armament Research, gave the council with a comprehensive analysis of the remnants of the missile that hit Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Jan. 2.
Leff said that his organization documented the missile's rocket motor, tail section, and nearly 300 components manufactured by 26 companies from eight countries and territories.
Based on the missile's unique characteristics, such as its diameter, distinct jet vane actuators, igniter pattern, the presence of Korean characters on some components, and other marks and components dating back to 2023, the organization concluded that the missile was either a KN-23 or KN-24 manufactured in 2023 in the North Korea.
“Following the initial documentation, our teams inspected three additional identical DPRK missiles that struck Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia earlier this year,” Leff said.
They also observed additional conventional weapons, including an artillery rocket produced in 1977, “that had been seized on the front lines and had not been observed on the battlefield previously in Ukraine” that were manufactured by North Korea and might have been part of a recent larger consignment of rockets.
Meanwhile, The United States and its Western allies accused Russia and North Korea of violating a UN embargo on arms exports from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
However, Russia dismissed the "baseless accusations," while the DPRK called the meeting "an extremely brazen act" to discuss "someone's alleged 'weapon transfers.'"
The council discussed illegal arms transfers from North Korea at the request of France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The meeting followed Russia's March 28 veto that ended the monitoring of sanctions against North Korea over its expanding nuclear program by a UN panel of experts.
Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN disarmament chief, informed the council that the panel of experts was examining a report from Ukraine regarding missile debris recovered "following information about short-range ballistic missiles manufactured in the DPRK and used by Russian armed forces in Ukraine" before the panel's mandate expired.
Although the experts' mandate, which had been extended since 2009 with Russia's support, was terminated, Nakamitsu asserted that the Security Council committee responsible is for monitoring the implementation of sanctions against the DPRK continues its work and will oversee the sanctions regime.