North Korea Sends Missile Unit with 120 Missiles to Russia
The new unit of 90 soldiers will be stationed in the Voronezh region, and experts warn that ballistic missiles represent the biggest weakness in Ukraine's defense.
The new unit of 90 soldiers will be stationed in the Voronezh region, and experts warn that ballistic missiles represent the biggest weakness in Ukraine's defense.
North Korea has sent a specialized missile unit to Russia, taking military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang to a new level. The unit is expected to be equipped with 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers, and its arrival coincides with the first use of North Korean missiles against Ukraine after nearly a year-long pause.
The information was confirmed by Andriy Chernyak, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense. According to him, Russia plans to deploy the unit, consisting of about 90 North Korean personnel, in the Voronezh region as part of the 112th Missile Brigade. Pyongyang has already delivered a new shipment of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles, along with the personnel.
Experts point out that ballistic missiles pose the most serious challenge to Ukraine's air defense. Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank based in Philadelphia, emphasizes that this is one of Ukraine's biggest weaknesses.
"Defense against ballistic missiles is one of Ukraine's biggest weaknesses, so any increase in the number of ballistic missiles they face will pose an even greater challenge," Lee said. Ahead of winter, the state of Ukraine's air defense is of particular concern, as Russia could again intensify attacks on the energy grid.
The North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 missiles have a longer range and carry a more powerful warhead than the comparable Russian Iskander, but they are significantly less accurate. Ukrainian military sources link their use to attacks that result in a high number of civilian casualties.
Last week, for the first time since August 2025, Russia fired two North Korean missiles at Ukraine. One of these attacks destroyed a residential building in the village of Radushne, located in central Ukraine, killing at least five members of the same family in the rubble. According to Chernyak's data, Russia has received a total of 150 such missiles from North Korea from the end of 2023 to August 2025.
Military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang intensified after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the two countries signed a mutual defense agreement in 2024. In addition to millions of artillery shells, North Korea has also sent 14,000 soldiers to the Kursk region to help repel Ukraine's ground incursion.
Currently, about 9,500 North Korean soldiers are in the Kursk region, although they have not yet been directly involved in combat operations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that the Kremlin wants North Korea to send an additional 30,000 soldiers, and preparations are already underway in the Voronezh region to receive them. An agreement on the final composition of the new missile unit and the total number of missiles is expected to be reached during high-level talks planned for next month.
