White House: Russia Uses North Korean Missiles in Ukraine

According to the White House, Russia has started firing North Korean missiles at Ukraine and is now trying to buy missiles from Iran. One person was killed and eight others were injured in yesterday’s Russian army strike on Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service has said. The Energy Ministry said two industrial facilities were damaged, one belonging to Ukrenergo and the other to Kirovogradoblenergo. Residents of the city were temporarily left without electricity; the railway was also deenergized. Meanwhile, the funeral of sniper Rostyslav Tereshchenko, who died on 28 December in one of the hottest spots of the frontline, near Avdiivka, was held in Kyiv. The Ukrainian with the callsign “Jerry” had been fighting in the Azov Battalion since 2014. In the meantime, according to the White House, the Russian army has already used North Korean ballistic missiles to shell Ukraine and now plans to buy missile systems from Iran. “This is a significant and troubling escalation of North Korea’s support for Russia,” Washington stressed. “According to our information, North Korea has recently provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles. On 30 December 2023, Russian forces launched at least one of these North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukrainian territory,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing. The strikes on Russian territory have not stopped either: on Thursday evening Belgorod again came under fire, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. According to him, two people were injured. In addition, on Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the recent exchange of 230 Ukrainian for 248 Russian prisoners of war. He praised the efforts of the UAE, which mediated the exchange.