North Korean missile unit deploys in Russia for Ukraine war, Kyiv says
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- Andrii Cherniak of Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence said a North Korean missile unit of roughly 90 personnel is deploying to Russia's Voronezh region within its 112th Missile Brigade, with plans for 120 ballistic missiles and six launchers aimed at Ukraine.
- North Korea has already sent a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles and personnel to Russia, with the final configuration and total missile count to be set at top-level talks in September.
- KN-23 and KN-24 missiles have greater range and larger payload than Russia's Iskander but are far less accurate, and one fired last week struck a residential home in the village of Radushne, killing at least five members of the same family.
- Russia's ballistic missiles — including the North Korean KN-23/24 and Russia's own Iskander 9M723 — can only be stopped by US-made Patriot systems, of which Ukraine is severely short ahead of a winter in which Russia is expected to again target the power grid.
- North Korea supplied 150 missiles to Russia between late 2023 and August 2025 and currently has roughly 9,500 troops stationed in Russia's Kursk region, though those forces are not now engaged in direct combat operations against Ukraine.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said in July that Moscow wants North Korea to send another 30,000 troops and that Russian preparations were already under way in the Voronezh region to receive them.
Why it matters: The deployment formalizes North Korea as a frontline missile supplier — not just a shell and troop provider — for Russia's war, adding 120 hard-to-intercept ballistic warheads to a stockpile Kyiv can only stop with the handful of Patriot interceptors it has left. Because KN-23/24 missiles carry larger payloads than Russia's Iskander but at much lower accuracy, each launch raises the ceiling for civilian casualties in Ukrainian cities and compounds the winter power-grid threat Ukraine's air defenders are already outmatched to handle.
