Russia has used at least 24 North Korean-made ballistic missiles (presumably Kn-23/24) to fire at Ukraine, Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin has said, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
He specified the affected regions.
"In total, from 30 December 2023 to 7 February 2024, the enemy launched at least 12 strikes on seven regions of Ukraine with this type of missile. We are talking about Zaporizhzhya, Kyiv (three attacks), Kharkiv (two attacks) and towns and villages in Kirovohrad, Poltava, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. These attacks killed 14 civilians and injured more than 70 others," Kostin said.
He added that the most massive attack involving North Korean missiles was documented on 7 February. "Three cities were attacked: Kyiv (with one missile), Pavlohrad and Kharkiv (with two missiles in each city). In all these cases, no hits on possible targets were recorded," Kostin said.
According to him, the highest number of casualties was recorded after the attack on Kharkiv on 2 January 2024, when three people were killed and 64 others were injured as a result of shelling of the city centre.
The missiles' origin is confirmed by the conclusions of the Central Research Institute of Armaments of the Ministry of Defence and the Interagency Working Group under the Prosecutor-General's Office. Kostin said that the DPRK missiles have "different marking numbers, they have symbols on them that may indicate their Korean origin".
"Also, the nature and extent of the destruction (size of the crater, impact), and the peculiarity of the flight path were different. That is, these missiles have a larger diameter than similar models of Russian and Soviet origin," the prosecutor-general said.
Kostin also said that, according to preliminary analysis, the new missiles contain high explosive warheads with a capacity of 500-1,000 kg in TNT equivalent. The Russians may also be using a combined warhead. The maximum range of the missiles is up to 650 km. The prosecutor-general noted that, according to preliminary data, Russia launched the attacks from its Voronezh Region.
Kostin commented on the accuracy of North Korean missiles.
"Out of 24 missiles fired, we know of two relatively accurate hits: the oil refinery in Kremenchuk and the technical area of the Kanatove airfield. The rest of the missiles hit at a considerable distance from each other - up to several kilometres or more - either exploded in the air or hit residential areas in Kharkiv," the prosecutor-general said.