Russia acquires North Korean missiles, breaches international sanctions

According to the latest intelligence information, Russia has received new deliveries of Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missiles, reports "The New York Times." Thus, Pyongyang and Moscow have found a way to circumvent imposed sanctions.

The remnants of four Hwasong-11 missiles were examined in Kyiv by investigators from Conflict Armament Research, an independent research group based in the United Kingdom that identifies and tracks weapons and ammunition used in wars around the world, the American newspaper reports.

The remnants handed over by Ukraine were secured on August 18, after the attack on Kyiv. One of the missiles was identified by serial numbers, which indicate that it was manufactured in 2024.

The Hwasong-11 missile has a range of about 500 km and can be equipped with nuclear or conventional warheads. The US military indicates that visually the missile is similar, or modelled, on the Russian Iskander. According to the US Army, Pyongyang was able to build the missile only using Western components.

"Identifying the year of production, looking at these remnants, shows a very narrow time window between production, transfer, and use," said Damien Spleeters of Conflict Armament Research in an interview with "The New York Times." "I think this is quite significant because we are talking about North Korea, a country that has been under sanctions for almost two decades," he emphasized.

"It also shows that there is continuous sanction-breaking, as they are still producing these missiles, transferring them, and then they are being used to attack Ukraine," he said.