The potential for additional missile supplies from North Korea could hold significant military importance for Moscow.
North Korean missile / © Associated Press
Russia might leverage North Korean missiles, which are being deployed in the Voronezh region, to intensify strikes on Ukraine, especially considering challenges with its own missile production. Furthermore, their capability to carry heavy warheads presents an increased threat to Ukrainian industrial facilities and command centers.
This was stated in a comment to the UNIAN agency by Ihor Lutsenko, co-founder of the Aerorozvidka Support Center and a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to him, the primary advantage of North Korean missiles for Russia lies in the opportunity to acquire an additional resource for strikes.
“Their main advantage is that they exist,” Lutsenko noted.
He explained that the Russian defense industry faces difficulties in missile manufacturing, making even supplementary deliveries from North Korea potentially of considerable military value to Moscow.
“The situation with missile production for the Russians is not particularly rosy. And the prospect of having an additional dozen missiles daily is a very significant positive for them,” the serviceman said.
Lutsenko added that for Ukraine, the difficulty in countering ballistic missiles remains an additional challenge. Therefore, Russia acquiring a new source of such weaponry could potentially increase the strain on Ukraine’s air and missile defense systems.
The military expert also highlighted the characteristics of the KN-30 missile, noting its capacity to carry a warhead weighing up to 2500 kg. In his view, an increased warhead weight elevates the potential danger posed by these missiles to Ukrainian manufacturing capabilities and headquarters.
However, the actual frequency of Russia’s use of North Korean missiles will depend not only on their quantity but also on the availability of suitable launch platforms.
“We need to have our own missiles that will destroy these launchers,” Lutsenko emphasized.
Previously, Ukrainian intelligence confirmed the transfer of approximately 50 KN-23, KN-24, and KN-30 (Hwasong-11C) missiles to Russia as of July 2026. Launchers in the Voronezh region could potentially target seven Ukrainian oblasts: Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Poltava, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia.
It is noteworthy that ISW analysts suggested Russia is employing a limited number of North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles for strikes on Ukraine, using them for testing and attempting to improve guidance accuracy after prior malfunctions. This allows the Kremlin to intensify shelling without depleting its own stocks of scarce missiles.
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