Ukraine faces constant Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which use North Korean weapons that they can only fly because they work with circuits made in the West and which were taken despite sanctions, according to Ukrainian military officials.

Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles against Ukraine this year, according to a Ukrainian defense official. That represents nearly one in three of the 194 ballistic missiles launched so far in 2024, according to a CNN tally of strikes publicly acknowledged by Ukraine’s air force.

August and September saw a spike in ballistic missile attacks when Ukraine first publicly demonstrated its use of the KN-23.

“We see that since the spring, Russia uses ballistic missiles and attack drones much more to hit Ukraine. And less use of cruise missiles,” Ukrainian Air Force Deputy Chief of Communications Yuriy Ignat told CNN. These less sophisticated missiles are part of it of North Korea’s growing support for Moscowwhich also includes approx 11,000 North Korean soldiers which have been developed in the Kursk region of Russia.

As the expanding role of North Korean missiles becomes clear, Ukrainian officials have given CNN access to fragments collected from the weapons wreckage that show the apparent extent of American and European or engineered circuits in their guidance systems.

The critical components used in North Korea’s missiles produced by nine Western manufacturersincluding companies based in United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdomaccording to a recent report by the independent anti-corruption commission of Ukraine (NAKO).

“Everything that works to guide the rocket, to make it fly, are all foreign components. All electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean about it,” said Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory of the Kyiv Institute of Scientific Research of Forensic Experts.

“The only thing Korean is metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes,” he added.

An official of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Service, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said their investigations were hampered by damage to the missile’s fragments, but it was still possible to determine that “the vast majority of components are western components. Probably 70% are American, from well-known companies […] They also use components made in Germany and Switzerland.”

A report released earlier this year by the research organization Conflict Armament Research, or CARbased in the UK, found that 75% of the components in one of the first North Korean missiles used to attack Ukraine were from US-based companies.

Sanctioned goods move through China

There is no reliable information on exactly how the parts get into North Korea, according to gun tracking experts. However, all signs point to China as the likely conduit, experts say.

“We have successfully traced some of these components and the last known custodians are Chinese companies,” said Damien Spleeters, deputy director of operations at CAR, which works to independently document weapons diversion. This means that the Chinese companies bought the components from manufacturers and a number of middlemen.

“The diversion rarely happens at the factory that makes the parts,” he told CNN.

CAR has a policy of not “naming and shaming” specific manufacturers because there is no evidence that the companies intentionally sent the parts to North Korea.

“Some parts of these components may actually be counterfeit and made in China,” said Victoria Vyshnivska, a senior researcher at NAKO. “But we can’t be 100% sure,” he added, as the companies in question often failed to respond to questions.

A manufacturer was able to provide NAKO with evidence that a low-value electronic component found on a North Korean missile was fake.

CAR and others see middleman distribution companies – not manufacturers as the primary issue.

There are more than 250 companies whose manufacturing elements have been traced to North Korean missiles, according to CAR. However, the majority of these electronics are sold through five main distributors, all of which are based in the United States and Canada. CAR urges policymakers to focus more efforts on regulating these distribution companies.

The US Commerce Department has already stepped up targeting of entities and companies that have shipped sanctioned goods to Russia and Belarus.

Ukrainian officials argue that poor enforcement of the sanctions regime by Western nations is a major issue.

Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy, said he was optimistic that the incoming Trump administration would seek greater control over illicit trade.