North Korean Missile Killed 12 People in Russian Strike on Kyiv

The missile that struck a residential building in Kyiv overnight, killing at least twelve civilians and leaving others trapped under debris, was a North Korean KN-23 (KN-23A) ballistic missile, a Ukrainian military source told Reuters, The Gaze.

The deadly strike hit the Sviatoshynskyi district, west of the capital’s center. Emergency crews continued rescue operations Thursday morning, with around 10 people still missing beneath the rubble, according to officials at the scene.

While the Kremlin has not confirmed details of the weaponry used, it claimed that all targets in the operation were “military or military-adjacent.” Both Moscow and Pyongyang have repeatedly denied violating United Nations sanctions through weapons transfers.

However, Ukrainian officials and Western allies have long sounded the alarm over growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea — a relationship that has deepened since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

According to Ukraine’s military intelligence, by the beginning of 2025, North Korea had supplied Russia with 148 KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles, in addition to thousands of artillery shells, rocket systems, and even military personnel. Russia reportedly began deploying the North Korean missiles in late 2023.

The KN-23 and KN-23A, capable of carrying warheads up to one tonne — more powerful than Russian equivalents — have since been used in Russian strikes, according to the Ukrainian source.

In its official statement following the latest attack, the Ukrainian military identified seven ballistic missiles as having been launched, broadly categorizing them as “Iskander-M/KN-23.”

North Korea’s deepening role in the conflict has sparked concern not only in European capitals but also in Asia. Officials in Seoul and allied nations fear Pyongyang could apply its battlefield experience elsewhere in the future.

As The Gaze previously reported,  during the night, emergency services extinguished approximately 40 fires across nine regions of Ukraine due to a massive assault by Russian forces. 

Read more on The Gaze: North Korea Sent Over 15,000 Munitions Containers to Russia