The Russians began to use North Korean ballistic missiles to strike the Donetsk region.

The Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported on this.

Russian troops launched a combined attack on the town of Selydove. The invaders hit civilian infrastructure with eight missiles, four of which were made in North Korea.

The Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office claims the wreckage is similar to Hwasong-11Ga (KN-23) ballistic missiles.

On January 7, 2024, Militarnyi reported that Russians used two such missiles to strike civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv.

It is reported that the Russians fired five missiles at Kharkiv. The strikes on the Slobidskyi district of Kharkiv damaged buildings in the industrial zone.

Two men, aged 59 and 64, and a 52-year-old woman were injured; they are employees of the companies that were hit by Russian missiles.

North Korean ballistic missiles in the Russian inventory

On January 10, Militarnyi reported that during the attacks on January 6, Russian troops once again launched several North Korean ballistic missiles at Kharkiv.

The Russians first used Hwasong-11Ga during large-scale combined strikes on December 30, 2023, and January 2, 2024.

Investigators from the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) international organization examined the remains of the missiles and determined that this missile was manufactured in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea).

CAR investigators also compared the features of this missile with those of similar systems manufactured by the Russian Federation.

For example, CAR identified several properties that clearly differentiate this missile from the Russian-made Iskander system.

One distinction relates to tail sections: the North Korean missile’s tail section has a diameter of 110 cm, while the Iskander’s is smaller, at around 95 cm.

On a barometer documented in Ukraine as part of the missile wreckage, CAR investigators observed a label with the handwritten Korean (Hangul) character ‘ㅈ’.

CAR investigators documented the presence of the mark ‘112’ on several different components found in the missile wreckage. This mark may refer to the ‘February 11’ plant in North Korea, where these missiles are reportedly assembled.

Read more about North Korean missiles in the article “North Korea Threat: Existing and Potential Ballistic Weapons in the Russian Arsenal” on Militarnyi.