By Tom Balmforth and David Gauthier-Villars
KYIV (Reuters) -Russia hit only two military targets upon firing 24 North Korean ballistic missiles at Ukraine in recent weeks, Ukraine's top prosecutor said on Friday, casting doubt on the reliability of Pyongyang's much-feared, but little-known weaponry.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said a preliminary assessment found at least 24 recently fired ballistic missiles were from North Korea, and of the KN-23/24 series, the latest addition to an array of weapons used by Russia for airstrikes.
Speaking to reporters in Kyiv, Kostin said that of the 24 missiles fired, only two, aimed at an oil refinery and an airfield, had been "relatively accurate."
"The accuracy of the missiles is questionable," he said.
In total, the 24 missiles killed at least 14 civilians and injured 70 more, he said.
Beyond the Ukrainian battlefield, the performance of North Korean missiles is of interest to South Korea and Japan, where military experts are eager to understand these systems to hone their own defence capabilities, said Joe Byrne, a North Korea specialist at the Royal United Services Institute defence think tank in London.
Any assessment in actual operations will also be useful for the North Koreans to improve their weapons and make them more accurate, Byrne said.
"North Korean state media always portrays these missiles to be highly sophisticated and accurate, yet this data may tell a different story," he told Reuters.
According to the United States, Russia received ballistic missiles, as well as artillery rounds, from North Korea after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, met Russian President Vladimir Putin for a rare summit in September.
Ukrainian authorities were able to identify the North Korean origin of the 24 missiles thanks to markings resembling Korean symbols found on debris recovered from impact sites, as well as by analyzing the characteristic flight paths of KN-series missiles, Kostin, the prosecutor said.
The Kremlin has not denied nor confirmed its use of North Korean-made weapons. North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not respond to emailed questions from Reuters.
"In total, between December 30, 2023 and February 7, 2024, the enemy launched at least 12 attacks on seven regions of Ukraine with this type of missile," the prosecutor said.
The targeted areas included three strikes on the capital Kyiv, two on the northeastern city of Kharkiv and others on Zaporizhzhia region, towns and villages in Kirovohrad region, and the regions of Poltava, Donetsk, and Dnipro, he said.
The most lethal use of the ballistic missile was on the city centre of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 when three people were killed and 64 others were injured.
The prosecutor chief confirmed that Ukraine was investigating whether a huge crater blasted in the ground near the town of Bucha near Kyiv during an airstrike on Thursday morning had been caused by the North Korean missile.
An analysis of the attacks has determined the maximum range of the missiles to be up to 650 km (400 miles), he said, adding that the preliminary assessment was that Russia was launching them from the region of Voronezh.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and David Gauthier-Villars; Editing by Alison Williams, Hugh Lawson and Jonathan Oatis)
