The head of the research organization that has been looking for the origin of the weapons used in the Russian attacks on Ukraine since 2018, said in the United Nations Security Council (UN) that the organization "indisputably" established that the ballistic missile whose remains were found this year came from North Korea found in Ukraine.
The United States of America (US) and its Western allies clashed with representatives of Russia and North Korea at a UN Security Council meeting on Friday as they claimed the two countries were violating a UN embargo on arms exports from North Korea.
Russia rejected the claims as "groundless", and North Korea called the discussion about "someone's alleged 'arms transfer'" as "extremely presumptuous".
Jonah Leff, executive director of the Conflict Armament Research organization, presented at the Security Council meeting a detailed analysis of the missile that hit the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 2 this year.
He said that the organization analyzed the rocket's engine, the part around the tail and about 300 components produced by 26 companies from eight countries and territories, and found that it was a KN-23 or KN-24 missile produced in 2023 in North Korea.
She reached conclusions based on the unique characteristics of that rocket, diameter, thrust path, analysis of the place where it fell, Korean letters on parts of the rocket and other markings and parts dating back to 2023.
Leff said their teams had examined three more identical North Korean missiles that hit Kyiv and Zaporozhye this year as well.
They also spotted conventional weapons, including artillery rockets manufactured in 1977, seized on the front line and not previously seen on the battlefield in Ukraine, produced by North Korea and possibly part of a recent larger shipment of missiles.
The Security Council discussed the illegal arms transfer from North Korea on Friday at the request of France, Japan, South Korea, Great Britain and the United States.
The meeting followed Russia's veto imposed on March 28, which ended the supervision of a team of UN experts for the implementation of sanctions against North Korea due to the development of its nuclear program.
The US and its European and Asian allies have accused Moscow of trying to evade surveillance while allegedly violating sanctions by buying weapons from Pyongyang for its war against Ukraine.
Although the mandate of the UN expert for monitoring the implementation of sanctions on North Korea has expired, whose work was extended since 2009 with the support of Russia, the head of the UN disarmament service, Izumi Nakamitsu, said in the Security Council on Friday that it is important to point out that the Security Council committee in charge of monitoring North Korea continues to operate and will continue to monitor the implementation of the sanctions regime.
US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that Lef's presentation of technical details was very persuasive and that Lef's organization's independent findings corroborate reports and analyzes from other sources.
"As a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia has a responsibility to support and strengthen international peace and security. Yet Russia is launching ballistic missiles illegally obtained from North Korea against the Ukrainian people," Wood said.
Russian Ambassador Vasiliy Nebenzija accused the Western initiators of the meeting of trying to use the Security Council for "anti-Russian and anti-North Korean claims" and of spreading baseless accusations to "distract attention from their own destructive actions that encourage escalation in the region."
He said claims of Russia's use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine were "absolutely false" and questioned the professionalism and expertise of those examining missile remnants in Ukraine.
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