North Korea deploys missile unit and 120 ballistic missiles to western Russia

According to military intelligence, the North Korean missile unit — comprising roughly 90 military personnel — is being deployed in Russia's Voronezh Oblast as part of the Russian 112th Missile Brigade.

Pyongyang has already dispatched a new batch of 40 KN-23 and KN-24 missiles along with supporting personnel to Russia. However, final details regarding deployment logistics and total missile quantities will be finalized during high-level negotiations next month. Chernyak noted that the aggressor state expects the total deployment to reach 120 ballistic missiles.

It remains unclear what exact operational role the North Korean troops will play in Russian attacks against Ukraine, though the unit's deployment coincides with the resumption of North Korean ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine following a year-long hiatus, Reuters reported.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, emphasized that North Korean missiles present a severe threat to Kyiv amid ongoing shortages of anti-ballistic air defense systems.

"Air defense against ballistic missiles is one of Ukraine's greatest vulnerabilities, so any increase in the volume of ballistic missiles it must confront will create an even larger challenge," he stated.

According to Ukrainian military sources, North Korean KN-23 and KN-24 missiles feature a longer operational range and larger warhead capacity than Russian Iskanders, though they demonstrate significantly lower accuracy.

Russia began launching North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine in late 2023. According to Chernyak, North Korea supplied Russia with 150 missiles between late 2023 and August 2025.

On July 30, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Russia likely reused North Korean-produced missiles to strike Ukraine for the first time in a prolonged period. That strike hit Radushne near Kryvyi Rih, killing a large family.

Reuters noted that the deployment of North Korean missiles against Ukraine likely signals that Moscow has secured fresh munitions shipments from Pyongyang.