UN sanctions monitors have informed the Security Council (UNSC) that debris recovered from a missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was identified as North Korea's Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, constituting a breach of the UN arms embargo.
As reported by the British news agency Reuters, a 32-page report submitted by the sanctions monitors to the United Nations detailed their findings, confirming that the wreckage retrieved from Kharkiv on January 2 belonged to North Korea's Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile.
North Korea has been subjected to UN sanctions since 2006 due to its ballistic missile activities and nuclear program, which defy international law.
According to the report, sanctions monitors visited Ukraine earlier this month to examine the missile wreckage, concluding that it was not of Russian origin.
While both Russia and North Korea have refrained from commenting on the UN report, the United States and NATO allege that North Korea supplied weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine.
During the Security Council meeting in February, the United States accused Russia of deploying North Korean missiles on at least nine occasions, a claim vehemently denied by Moscow and Pyongyang.
The Hwasong-11 series of ballistic missiles was first unveiled by North Korea in 2019, according to UN observers, before being allegedly transferred to Russia. As international scrutiny intensifies, the implications of North Korea's arms dealings continue to reverberate on the global stage.
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