A top source in Kiev confirmed on Friday that Russia had launched missiles into Ukraine during its invasion, confirming a claim made earlier by the White House. The missiles were provided by North Korea.
The governor of Kharkiv’s northeastern region announced on social media site X after claiming that non-Russian missiles launched by Russia had damaged his area.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a top official in Kiev, said, “There is no longer any disguise… as part of its outright genocidal war, the Russian Federation struck at the territory of Ukraine for the first time with missiles received from… North Korea.“
He offered no proof that the rockets were made in North Korea. Washington used information that had been declassified in its announcement on Thursday.
When asked about the claim made by the United States that Russia had launched short-range ballistic missiles at Ukraine that were provided by North Korea, the Kremlin remained silent.
The regional governor of Kharkiv had earlier on Friday said that at the end of December and the start of January, missiles made outside of Russia had been shot into the province.
Following a Russian airstrike on the regional capital of Kharkiv on January 2, a Reuters camera operator captured the aftermath, which included missile debris and a deep hole in the city center.
When Joost Oliemans, a Dutch scholar and military specialist on North Korea, was shown the Reuters film, he concluded that the missile remains seemed to be from North Korea.
“The footage seems to depict the main body and engine section of a missile that is almost exactly the same as a North Korean missile that we have actually seen fairly clear photos of in the last few years,” the man said.
Regional prosecutors in Kharkiv said on Tuesday that they were looking into the nation of origin of three missiles that Russia used to strike the provincial capital. North Korea was not mentioned in their statement.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the assault on Kharkiv city left two people dead and sixty-two injured.
The air force of Ukraine said earlier on Friday that it was still unable to determine the nation of production of the disputed missiles.
The United States, via its spokesperson John Kirby, said that Pyongyang had fired missiles at Russia, but he did not specify what kind of missiles Pyongyang had delivered (550 km). In a graphic he posted, KN-23 and KN-25 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) were shown.
Since it conducted its first nuclear bomb test in 2006, North Korea has been subject to an arms embargo by the UN.
Resolutions adopted by the U.N. Security Council, which were backed by Russia, forbid nations from exchanging armaments or other military hardware with North Korea.
Authorities in South Korea said in November that North Korea could have given Russia SRBMs as part of a wider weapons sale that also included rifles, artillery and mortar ammunition, anti-aircraft, and anti-tank missiles.
Although both Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied carrying out any weapons sales, they committed last year to strengthening their military ties.
SOURCE: NBC NEWS
