North Korean-made ballistic missiles launched by Russia into Ukraine amid the war are of a "very low" quality with an accuracy rate of only around 20 percent, Ukraine's top war crimes prosecutor recently said based on an analysis of the weapons debris.
Around 50 North Korean missiles have been launched into Ukraine so far, resulting in 24 deaths and over 100 injured, according to Yuriy Belousov, head of the War Crimes Department of Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General.
Belousov expressed concerns North Korea may be using Ukraine as a missile testing ground, saying, "In my opinion, they definitely use it" to trace how effective its weapons are.
Pundits believe that Pyongyang is obtaining data from Russia on the missiles' first deployment in actual combat, aiming to improve its capabilities to attack and evade interception.
According to Belousov, preliminary assessments have shown that around 80 percent of the North Korean missiles failed to hit their target, with half of them exploding in mid-air.
Ukraine is still gauging the level of the weapons' ability to evade being intercepted by its air defense system, he said.
Moscow has fired North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, which Belousov says "definitely copy" Russia's Iskander, as well as North Korean KN-24, which resembles the U.S.-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System.
But compared with Russia's "extremely precise" Iskander, North Korean missiles are of inferior quality possibly due to Pyongyang not having "enough parts that make missiles more accurate," he said.
Belousov, meanwhile, indicated the possibility of an uptick in the use of North Korean missiles, saying, "The numbers are increasing all the time."
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told local media on Feb. 16 that at least 24 ballistic missiles recently fired by Russia were suspected to be of North Korean origin, meaning the number has roughly doubled in around a month.
The New York Times, citing U.S. and European officials, reported in January that fewer than 50 missiles had been transported from North Korea to Russia.
But with close to 50 missiles already launched, more of the weapons may have been supplied to Russia.
Both the KN-23 and KN-24, which use solid fuel, are short-range ballistic missiles capable of being fired rapidly and flying on irregular trajectories. North Korea has repeatedly conducted test launches of its missiles into the Sea of Japan.
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