2024-01-04 19:44:01
According to the US government, Russia used missiles from North Korea in its war of aggression against Ukraine. National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby said at the White House on Thursday that according to US information, Pyongyang recently delivered ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles to Moscow. At the turn of the year, Russian armed forces fired several of these missiles into Ukraine.
“This is a significant and concerning escalation of North Korean support for Russia,” Kirby emphasized. There are also indications that talks between Moscow and Tehran about the supply of missiles are advancing.
The USA and other countries have long expressed concern about the growing military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. Kirby said Russia was increasingly isolated on the world stage because of international sanctions and export controls and forced to look to like-minded states for military equipment. These included North Korea and Iran.
According to US information, Russian forces fired at least one of North Korea’s ballistic missiles into Ukraine on December 30, Kirby said. This appears to have been struck in an open field. On Tuesday, however, Russia fired several more North Korean ballistic missiles into Ukraine.
“We are still in the process of assessing the impact of these additional missiles,” Kirby emphasized. “We expect that Russia and North Korea will learn from these launches and that Russia will use additional North Korean missiles to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and kill innocent Ukrainian civilians.” The missiles from Pyongyang have a range of around 900 kilometers.
The US government assumes that North Korea wants to obtain military equipment from Russia in return for its support – including fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles or materials for the production of advanced military technologies. This would have worrying implications for the security of the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region, Kirby warned.
With regard to Iran, the communications director said that the US government does not currently believe that Tehran has already delivered ballistic missiles to Moscow. However, negotiations on this are being actively pursued. The US government is concerned about this.
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#USA #Russia #missiles #North #Korea #Ukraine