Kiev:
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said on Thursday it had determined that Russia had used North Korean missiles in several attacks that killed more than 20 people.
The United States had warned in January that North Korea was sending both ballistic missiles and launchers to Russia, in what it called a worrying escalation of Pyongyang's support for Moscow.
“According to the investigation, Russian forces unleashed more than 20 North Korean weapons over Ukraine… at least 24 civilians were killed and more than 100 seriously injured,” the SBU said.
It identified the weapons as “Hwasong-11 ballistic missiles” and posted photos of fragments on Telegram.
The missiles were used in an attack on the southern region of Zaporizhia in late December and in the capital Kiev in January, the SBU said.
Russia also launched the missiles in the frontline regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv, it added.
“Extensive measures are underway to establish all the circumstances of the crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice,” including “logistics routes for the supply of weapons,” the SBU added.
Nearly fifty countries – including the US, European states, South Korea and Japan – had condemned the alleged transfer in a statement in January.
Traditional allies Russia and North Korea have recently re-strengthened ties, with Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un making a rare overseas trip in September to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia's far east.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)