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According to a report from Ukrainian state prosecutors, around half of the North Korean KN-23 SRBMs — also known as Hwasong-11 — that have been launched by Russia not only deviated from their trajectory but also exploded in midair.

The analysis from the Ukrainian state prosecutors was based on the debris from 21 of around 50 North Korean ballistic missiles launched by Russia between late December and late February.

“About half of the North Korean missiles lost their programmed trajectories and exploded in the air; in such cases, the debris was not recovered,” the office of Ukrainian state prosecutor Andriy Kostin told Reuters.

North Korean-supplied missiles make up only a very small fraction of the weapons used in Russian strikes on Ukraine, but there has long been concern about the direction the burgeoning military relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang could take.

As well as Russia unlocking another source of SRBMs and much-needed artillery projectiles, there have been additional concerns that Russian expertise in the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons — as well as other weapons and technologies — could be provided to North Korea.

The Ukrainian analysis points to the last recorded use of a KN-23 on February 27, after which the stocks of around 50 KN-23s delivered to Russia were exhausted.