Click to see full-size image. (Korean Central News Agency)
A North Korean ballistic missile unit has begun taking up positions in Russia’s border region of Voronezh, Reuters reported on August 5, citing Ukrainian military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Cherniak.
The deployment is believed to feature six mobile launchers and 120 ballistic missiles, according to the report, which claims that the Russian military has already taken delivery of an initial shipment of 40 missiles from the supply.
Military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have deepened significantly since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Kyiv even previously claimed that the Russian military fielded North Korean-made KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles.
The report cites a July 30 Russian strike on the settlement of Radushne in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih region, which Kyiv alleges utilized a KN-23 missile. Cherniak told Reuters that the attack marked Moscow’s first documented use of North Korean missiles since August of 2025, claiming that the weapon was drawn from Pyongyang’s recent missile delivery.
North Korea’s solid-fuel KN-23 is broadly comparable to the Russian-made Iskander-M system. Meanwhile, the KN-24 shares key design similarities with the U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).
The KN-23, officially designated as the Hwasong-11Ga, is a single-stage short-range ballistic missile capable of delivering a warhead weighing between 500 and 1,500 kilograms over distances of 450 to 700 kilometers. Designed to evade air defenses, the KN-23 flies a low-altitude, quasi-ballistic trajectory below 50 kilometers and can execute terminal pull-up maneuvers to complicate radar tracking and interception.
Just like the KN-23, the KN-24, or Hwasong-11Na, is a single-stage short-range ballistic missile. It carries a payload of 400 to 500 kilograms to ranges of up to 410 kilometers at speeds exceeding Mach 6. The missile also flies depressed, variable flight paths, enhancing its precision and survivability against modern missile defense batteries.
Commenting on the report, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that North Korean missile launchers deployed in Russia would become legitimate targets for Kyiv forces if they were used to strike Ukraine.
“If North Korean missile systems are deployed on the territory of the Russian Federation, they will become legitimate targets for the Ukrainian military,” Sybiha said at a joint news conference in Kyiv with Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze.
Reuters’ report, which is based solely on the claims of Ukrainian intelligence, has not been independently verified, and neither Moscow nor Pyongyang has publicly confirmed the reported deployment.
The report came out as Ukraine is facing a severe shortage of air defense missiles, with reports indicating that it may have completely run out of interceptors used by the U.S.-made MIM-104 Patriot system.
The Ukrainian air force even acknowledged that it failed to intercept any of the 24 missiles launched by Russia overnight into August 5.
Kyiv’s latest claims could be nothing more than a propaganda stunt meant to solicit more support from the West, in particular, interceptors. These claims coincide with a report by the Financial Times which revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump declined President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for hundreds of additional Patriot interceptors during a meeting at the White House last week.
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