North Korea likely supplied rocket artillery to Russia — military expert

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

“The statement of the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces about the transfer of several thousand short-range missiles to Russia looks very strange. It seems that neither Russia, nor China, nor North Korea, nor Iran can afford short-range missiles, since missile production depends on the same substances as the production of shells, and there is a worldwide shortage of these.

“Perhaps when they talked about short-range missiles, they actually meant rocket artillery,” noted military expert Kyrychevskyi. “Earlier, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence reported the transfer of North Korean M-1991 multiple rocket launcher systems to Russia. We're talking about at least 200 of these very powerful MLRS, with a range of up to 60 kilometers and a caliber of 240mm.”

The military expert emphasized that 240mm rocket projectiles are extremely powerful—more so than the GMLRS used by HIMARS—but they have a shorter range.

“Maybe this is what the Americans meant by ‘short-range missiles.’ A 60 km range is significant for a rocket, especially when it's launched from a North Korean M-1991 system. In fact, even the Patriot system isn’t designed to intercept MLRS-type rockets,” Kyrychevskyi explained.

The expert added that to intercept such rocket projectiles, Ukraine would need the Iron Dome system, which is capable of countering threats like these. However, acquiring that air defense system would be a complicated and lengthy process for Ukraine.

• Ukraine is already producing its own systems, similar to the U.S. HIMARS, as well as long-range missiles capable of hitting targets over 600 kilometers away.