When Ukrainian soldiers captured two North Korean prisoners of war last month, it provided the first undeniable proof of Pyongyang’s direct involvement in the war against Ukraine

Though North Korean ballistic missiles account for only a small portion of Russia's missile strikes they carry a large warhead of up to one tonne and have a range of up to 800 km, the military source said. The Iskander-M, an equivalent Russian missile, carries a smaller payload and has a shorter range of 500 km.

Ukraine is fighting a war against two nuclear weapons countries: Russia, a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty, and North Korea, which is not. Since 2014, Moscow has been undermining the logic and letter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) with its nuclear posturing.

This is almost certainly primarily due to heavy losses sustained during attacks against Ukrainian-held positions.” Reports differ on the scale of the losses but one put them as high as 4,000 North Korean soldiers killed or wounded.

North Korean ballistic missiles have been striking targets in Ukraine with increasing accuracy in recent weeks compared to over the past year — suggesting the Hermit Kingdom is using the battlefield as a testing ground for its new tech.