White House Says Russia Used North Korean Ballistic Missiles In Ukraine

Throughout much of the Ukraine conflict, the US and UK have alleged secret North Korean artillery shell transfers to Russia, via train in the far east. 

But this week Washington has ratcheted its accusations further, alleging that Russia is using North Korean supplied ballistic missiles to attack Ukrainian cities. 

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Thursday pointed to recently declassified intelligence which finds that Pyongyang provided Moscow with these weapons, and further said a North Korean missile was fired on Ukraine at least once. 

However, any specifics were not forthcoming and the accusations remained vague, perhaps only for the purpose of the US generating some headlines as part of wartime propaganda.

To be expected, Kirby also highlighted the deepened Russian-Iran relationship, and said that the Kremlin is seeking Iranian close-range ballistic missiles. Kirby said these negotiations are “actively advancing”. 

In a bit of curious timing, a Bloomberg op-ed published on the same day as Kirby’s briefing urged America to stop the new “axis of evil”…

Since Feb. 24, 2022, and especially since Oct. 7, 2023, a specter has haunted the world and worried US President Joe Biden in particular: Will Russia’s war against Ukraine, or Israel’s against Hamas, draw in other belligerents, perhaps even culminating in World War III?

Biden has therefore done everything in his power to support Ukraine and Israel while also keeping the US and its Western allies out of direct confrontations with Russia, Hamas’ backers in Iran, and their Chinese and North Korean quasi-allies. But conflicts change unpredictably. Every vagary increases the risk that an artillery round fired over here sends missiles flying over there and detonates a bigger blow-up.

The author says, “To avoid a wider war, American diplomacy must keep China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as separate as possible.”

The US needs to confront the new “Axis of Evil” (Iran, Russia, China, North Korea) by preventing it from even forming @opinion https://t.co/9l26dTp4lp

— Andreas Kluth (@andreaskluth) January 4, 2024

Russia and Ukraine have over the last several days been engaged in a ramped-up air war, especially following last week’s rare Ukrainian cross-border attack on Belgorod. It the tit-for-tat escalation, scores of civilians have been killed on both sides, bearing the brunt of this latest escalation.

Given Biden’s new defense aid for Kiev was held up by Republicans in Congress, it seems the only thing the White House has in its arsenal for the time being is to talk up the alleged Russia-North Korea-Iran links.