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Meeting of the despots: Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin in September 2023
Photo: KCNA / REUTERS
Missiles from North Korea delivered to Russia are said to have been constructed with Western components. This was the result of an analysis of the debris from a North Korean-made ballistic missile that fell in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, according to the organization Conflict Armament Research (CAR).
Accordingly, the rocket contained 290 electronic parts that did not come from the East Asian country. Many of them could therefore be assigned to companies headquartered in the USA, but also in Germany and other countries.
A large proportion of the components also had a date and were produced in the past three years, it said. This could mean that the weapon only reached Russia after the Russian attack on Ukraine began in February 2022.
Evidence of circumvention of UN sanctions
It also shows that North Korea is managing to circumvent UN sanctions against the country for ballistic missile components, the report continued. At the same time, it is also an indication of how much the country is dependent on imports from abroad.
According to the report, it is primarily about parts that were installed in the rocket's navigation system. In addition to the USA and Germany, parts from Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, China, the Netherlands and Taiwan were also found.
The London-based organization Conflict Armament Research, whose work is partly funded by the EU, examines weapon systems in war zones for the supply chains that used to produce them.
The White House said in early January that North Korea had provided Russia with cruise missiles and rocket launchers that were used in attacks in Ukraine. SPIEGEL had reconstructed the route of North Korean military equipment to Russia.
col/dpa/AFP