Researcher: North Korea can produce ballistic missiles for Russia to use against Ukraine in months

UNITED NATIONS — North Korea demonstrated this year that it could produce ballistic missiles and supply them to Russia for use against Ukraine in a matter of months, the head of a research organization that traces weapons used in the war said Wednesday.

Jonah Leff told the U.N. Security Council that researchers on the ground examined remnants of four missiles from North Korea recovered in Ukraine in July and August, including one that had marks indicating it was produced in 2024.

''This is the first public evidence of missiles having been produced in North Korea and then used in Ukraine within a matter of months, not years,'' he said.

Leff also had briefed the Security Council in late June, telling members that the organization he heads, Conflict Armament Research, had ''irrefutably'' established that ballistic missile remnants found in Ukraine early this year were from a missile manufactured in North Korea.

The U.K.-based organization, which was established in 2011 to document and trace weapons used in conflicts to assist governments in countering diversion and proliferation, has worked in Ukraine since 2018.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed his country would ''invariably support'' Russia's war in Ukraine when he met Russia's defense chief in late November, the North's state media reported.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia objected to the second appearance of Leff at the council meeting, chaired by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield of the United States, which holds the council's rotating presidency this month.

The U.S. ambassador retorted that Russia had vetoed a resolution that ended the monitoring of sanctions against North Korea by U.N. experts, which she said makes organizations like Conflict Armament Research and its independent, well-regarded experts all the more critical.

She said its reports show why Russia was determined to block the renewal of the mandate for the U.N. experts. Russia and North Korea ''are engaging in unlawful arms transfers and training, in brazen violation of numerous council resolutions," Thomas-Greenfield said.

Leff stood by the organization's research and said its analysis highlights three observations about North Korea's missile activities.

It confirms the continued use of freshly manufactured North Korean ballistic missiles in Ukraine, he said, and the discovery of the 2024 manufacturing mark on one missile reveals the very short period between the production of these ballistic missiles, their transfer and eventual use in Ukraine.

Leff also said the presence of recently produced missile components not from North Korea, some bearing 2023 production marks, ''illustrates North Korea's robust acquisition network for its ballistic missile program, despite U.N. sanctions prohibiting the transfer of this material for military purpose.''