Ukraine: Russia uses foreign hypersonic missiles in attack on Kharkiv
On January 2nd, the Russian Federation shelled Kharkiv with missiles not of its own production," said Oleh Syniehubov, Chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, during a briefing.
He noted that it is already known that these are hypersonic Iskander-M missiles. "We are conducting all the necessary research to determine the country of origin. Preliminarily, I can say that the markings on these missiles have been erased. However, the country of origin that we can identify is not the Russian Federation, let's put it that way. When we receive more accurate information from the General Staff or our intelligence, we will immediately report it," Syniehubov said.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, along with other agencies, said they are determining the country of origin of the missiles that Russia used to strike Kharkiv on January 2nd. "On January 2nd, at around 07:30, the armed forces of Russia launched a massive missile strike on civilian objects in the central part of Kharkiv. Three missile hits were recorded in the Shevchenko district. Two people were killed, and another 62 were injured,” reads the statement of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Ukrainian Law enforcement authorities are reportedly trying to determine if these missiles were produced outside of Russia. The review was carried out by prosecutors, police investigators, employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, and staff members of the Scientific Center of Air Forces at Kharkiv National University named after Ivan Kozhedub.
Previously, it was reported that North Korea had been supplying Russia with artillery shells for the war against Ukraine. Recently, the White House claimed that DPRK had provided Russia with several dozen ballistic missiles and launchers. According to the US, Moscow has already used some of these missiles in its recent attacks on Ukraine.
The United States and its allies believe that Pyongyang is seeking technical assistance from Moscow in developing cutting-edge weaponry in exchange for supplying weapons for the war against Ukraine.