Debris of North Korean ballistic missile found in Kharkiv, Ukraine (Ukraine/Reuters)
Reuters reported on April 29th that a UN investigation team has confirmed the origin of the ballistic missile that struck Kharkiv, Ukraine, last January. The debris, found in a residential area in central Kharkiv on January 2nd, has been identified as being from North Korea’s Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile.
The UN Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee’s investigation team of three has been verifying the missile debris. Through a 32-page report, they concluded that “the missile debris found in Kharkiv, Ukraine came from North Korea’s Hwasong-11 series” and “this is a violation of Russia’s weapons embargo against North Korea.”
The Ukrainian government had previously speculated that the missile debris was from the North Korean version of KN-23. However, Russia and North Korea denied the arms deal, claiming no evidence.
According to Reuters, the investigation team said, “We could not confirm who and where the missile was launched from,” but also conveyed that “the trajectory information provided by Ukraine suggests that the missile was launched from Russia.”
They continued, “If the location where the missile was launched was under Russian military control, it was probably procured by a Russian national,” pointing out that this constitutes a violation of the UN Security Council’s North Korea sanctions, which have banned North Korean weapons trade since 2006.
Reuters reported that the Russian and North Korean embassies in New York did not respond.
North Korea has been under UN sanctions for its ballistic missile launches and nuclear development since 2006. In a UN Security Council meeting in February, Russia was criticized for launching North Korea’s ballistic missiles at least nine times against Ukraine.
The Security Council had a conference and took a vote on the term extension of the North Korea Sanctions Committee expert panel on the 28th of last month, but was vetoed by Russia, a permanent member. For the past 15 years, the panel has been assisting the Security Council’s North Korea Sanctions Committee, investigating suspected cases of sanctions violations by North Korea and issuing in-depth reports on them.
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