Ukraine has struck a Russian missile depot housing weapons from North Korea, according to Ukrainian officials, amid growing concerns over the two isolated countries’ deepening military ties.
Reports have recently surfaced of Russia using North Korean missiles on the Ukrainian battlefield, a military collaboration that has flouted international sanctions and drawn the international community’s outrage.
Andrii Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, announced the strike via Telegram on Saturday morning.
“An ammunition depot was hit in Soldatske, Voronezh region,” he wrote, adding that the strike “destroyed Korean missiles, which Putin actually begged from Kim Jong Un, humiliating himself.”
The strike on Voronezh, 110 miles from the Ukrainian border, had been confirmed by Alexander Gusev, the region’s governor, hours earlier.
“Air defense and electronic warfare systems on duty in the Ostrogozhsky district detected and suppressed an unmanned aerial vehicle,” Gusev wrote on Telegram. “According to preliminary data, there were no casualties. However, as a result of the fall of the UAV, a fire broke out, which spread to explosive objects.”
A state of emergency was declared in the district, leading to evacuations and the deployment of emergency crews to tackle the blaze and prevent additional munitions from detonating.
The governor did not confirm that the depot contained North Korean missiles. Newsweek has contacted the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment by email.
Kristina Kormilitsyna/Sputnik via AP
In May, U.S. Department of Defense analysis of missile debris found in Kharkiv, Ukraine, confirmed that North Korea had “been providing ballistic missiles to Russia to support Moscow’s war against Ukraine.”
A recent study by Conflict Armament Research found that Russia had employed Pyongyang’s missiles on at least four occasions between July 30 and August 18.
Remnants from one of these missiles featured a mark indicating production in 2024, CAR reported, calling it “the first public evidence that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used in Ukraine.”
Kyodo via AP Images
North Korea has ramped up its domestic missile production in an effort to replenish Russia’s depleting arsenal, amid increasing military cooperation between the two regimes.
The arms trade has drawn condemnation from international bodies, who have criticized the pair’s relationship as “an illegal and dangerous form of cooperation.”
In a joint statement released on Tuesday, South Korea and 17 members of United Nations Command called for the immediate cessation of Pyongyang and Moscow’s military partnership.
Central to their criticism was the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un during the former’s visit to Pyongyang in June.
Alberto Pezzali/WPA Pool/Getty Images
In Kovalenko’s announcement, the Kyiv official said, “Iranian missiles will suffer the same fate.”
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that sanctions would be placed on Iran for supplying short-range ballistic missiles to Russia in support of its invasion of Ukraine.
“The supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the front line,” Blinken said during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in London.
Both Iran and Russia have denied any missile transfers, and no evidence has emerged of Tehran’s weaponry being found in Ukraine.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
