UN confirms that Russia hit Kharkiv with missile from DPRK, violating sanctions
The UN sanctions monitors have confirmed that the Russian army hit Kharkiv with a North Korean Hwasong-11 ballistic missile on January 2, 2024, in direct violation of Security Council sanctions.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Reuters.
A report presented to one of the Security Council's committees states that "the missile debris found in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on 2 January 2024, originated from a DPRK Hwasong-11 missile" and indicates a violation of the arms embargo on the supply of weapons to and from North Korea.
Three sanctions commissioners visited Ukraine in early April to examine the wreckage of the missile and found no evidence that the missile was manufactured in Russia.
The report states that UN experts "were unable to independently determine where the missile was launched from and by whom". But the information provided by the Ukrainian side "indicates that the missile was launched within the territory of the Russian Federation".
"Such a location, if the missile was under the control of Russian forces, likely indicates that it was acquired by citizens of the Russian Federation," the report states.
Since 2006, North Korea has been under UN Security Council sanctions, which include a ban on the import and export of military technology, due to nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
It is noted that in March, Russia vetoed in the Security Council the annual extension of the mandate of the UN sanctions monitors, which has been in place for the past 15 years. The mandate of the current group of experts expires on Tuesday, 30 April.
Bloomberg reported that the DPRK's communist regime is helping Russia with missiles and ammunition in exchange for food, raw materials and components for weapons production. Among other things, the North Koreans send Russia the latest ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. They have a range of 380 to 800 km.
