A new report has revealed that North Korean ballistic missiles used by Russian forces in attacks on Ukraine contain numerous components of foreign manufacture, including parts made by companies from the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Switzerland.
The findings, published on the War&Sanctions portal, underscore the global nature of supply chains used to circumvent international sanctions.
In particular, a voltage converter produced by the UK-based company XP Power was identified as being manufactured in February 2023, well after the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This raises pressing questions about the effectiveness of international export control regimes and the measures taken to prevent sensitive technologies from reaching sanctioned states.
According to analysts from Conflict Armament Research (CAR), the North Korean-made ballistic missiles contained over 290 electronic components sourced from companies located across eight countries. These missiles, supplied by North Korea to Russia, have been used extensively in the ongoing conflict, leading to significant civilian casualties in Ukraine.
One particularly notable incident occurred on January 2, 2024, when a North Korean missile struck a residential building in Kyiv, killing four people. On August 11, another missile, this time impacting a village in the Kyiv region, killed a four-year-old boy and his father, with three others injured from missile fragments. Such tragic incidents highlight the severe human cost of these attacks.
CAR analysts documented over 290 components within the missiles, including 50 unique models. Markings on the parts identified 26 different companies from eight nations: China, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States. According to CAR, 75% of the components found in the KN-23 missile were traced to U.S.-based companies, 16% to European firms, and the remaining 9% to companies based in Asia.
The analysis comes amid reports that North Korea has supplied more than 100 ballistic missiles to Russia, with Russia deploying approximately 60 of these North Korean missiles in its attacks on Ukraine throughout 2024. This figure accounts for nearly one-third of all ballistic missiles launched by Russia against Ukraine this year, as reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
Experts point out that Russia, along with its allies North Korea and Iran, employs complex schemes to circumvent international sanctions, enabling them to acquire critical components for their weapons programs. The persistence of these illicit supply routes underscores the need for stronger international export controls and better enforcement mechanisms.
The involvement of North Korean military specialists in these missile operations has also been documented, with personnel from Pyongyang reportedly dispatched to Russia to support missile launch systems and actively participate in strikes against Ukraine. These actions have further highlighted North Korea’s role in the ongoing conflict and its apparent willingness to contribute directly to the Russian military campaign.
The use of the KN-23 and KN-24 missiles—featuring components sourced from multiple Western nations—has repeatedly led to civilian casualties in Ukraine, both in frontline communities and in areas far from direct combat. The findings call into question how such sensitive components have ended up in the hands of North Korean missile producers, despite years of international efforts to prevent proliferation.
The revelations from Conflict Armament Research and the War&Sanctions portal call for a renewed international effort to close loopholes in export controls and to ensure that nations under sanctions cannot access advanced technologies. As the war in Ukraine continues, these findings highlight the critical need for coordinated global actions to curb the flow of sensitive technologies to rogue states and their partners.