Ukrainian War | Researcher: North Korea's missile support to Russia increases the pressure of Western countries to support Ukraine

Russian the support received from outside should not be underestimated in the Ukrainian war, says the docent of military sciences Ilmari Käihkö.

United States told on Thursday that Russia has started importing ballistic missiles and their launch systems from North Korea.

“Where Ukraine is dependent on external support in the war, so is Russia to some extent. And like Ukraine, Russia also seems to be succeeding in getting external support,” says Käihkö, who works as a visiting researcher at the Alexander Institute.

A spokesman for the US Department of Defense of John Kirby according to Russia would have had time to fire at least three North Korean missiles into Ukraine. However, according to the AFP news agency, Ukraine has not been able to confirm the information given by Kirby.

Kirby characterized North Korea's missile support to Russia as a “significant escalation”.

In Käihkö's opinion, the interpretation is consistent in itself. The external support that Russia receives can increase the pressure of both European countries and the United States to support Ukraine more than at present.

“Yes, in this situation you can see a kind of spiral of escalation. Inevitably, it comes to mind that North Korea's support for Russia now increases the pressure on Western countries to hand over long-range missiles to Ukraine.”

North Korea in addition, Russia has also turned to Iran in the war.

Economic magazine of the Wall Street Journal for example, the United States is concerned that Russia's efforts to acquire short-range ballistic missiles from Iran have progressed.

“After Russia started looking for external support, there was a lot of talk about such rogue states and their bad technology. However, the support received by Russia should not be underestimated”, says Käihkö.

“Although, for example, North Korean ammunition is not necessarily as good in quality as Western ones, their quantity has been large,” Käihkö adds.

“Europe, on the other hand, has not yet managed to deliver even half of the million ammunition it promised to Ukraine. North Korea's support for Russia has been significant in this regard.”

Russian the background of the missile acquisitions is the country's effort to burden the air defense of Ukrainian cities.

The more cheap missiles and fighter jets Russia fires, the more Ukraine will have to use up its stocks of Patriot and other anti-aircraft missiles. After that, Russia can strike again with more powerful weapons.

“Ukraine is very dependent on external support, especially for its air defense. So, from the point of view of Ukraine and the war as a whole, it is worrying if the United States does not get its own support package for Ukraine together. Ukraine's conditions to attack now largely depend on the extent to which Europe has the ability to support it during this year,” says Käihkö.