Russia fires North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine

Russia used North Korean-made KN-23 ballistic missiles to strike a key energy facility in Ukraine overnight on November 7, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, citing preliminary data. He made the claim after a meeting on the damage from the attack and the repair work.

Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles during the night, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down only four of them, Zelenskyy said. All of the missiles were aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region.

“This is yet another proof that global sanctions regimes deserve tangible strengthening, against everyone in the world who provides their ‘services’ in destroying life,” Zelenskyy wrote.

The KN-23, known in North Korea as the Hwasong-11A, is a solid-fuel short-range ballistic missile that can be fired from a mobile launcher. It flies a low, flattened path and can maneuver during flight, which makes it harder to track and intercept than a missile on a standard ballistic arc. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has described the weapon as extremely difficult for air defense systems to deal with.

Russia began firing North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in early 2024. Early launches were often inaccurate, but Ukrainian officials later said the North Korean missiles had become more precise, likely after the designers adjusted them using data from combat use.

The overnight barrage hit substations in the Kyiv region that connect the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central Ukraine. Substations were also damaged in the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia also launched 172 drones in the attack.

At least six people were injured in the Kyiv region, including a child, and a kindergarten was partly destroyed, local authorities said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital’s energy supply situation was extremely difficult, with disruptions to heating and water supply.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine still faces a significant shortage of Patriot interceptors, the U.S.-built missiles that are the main Ukrainian defense against ballistic missiles. He said the United States is best placed to help close the gap and that Kyiv is pushing allies to speed up air defense deliveries before winter, Glavnoe reported.

He also said the strikes were likely meant to put pressure on Ukraine ahead of planned trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi.

North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, artillery shells and troops since 2023. Shipments of the missiles have continued, with North Korea resuming ballistic missile shipments to Russia after a pause.