North Korea tests new drone resembling Iran's notorious Shahed
North Korea has unveiled a new ‘suicide’ drone that bears a striking resemblance to notorious Iranian drones “Shahed” which Russia have been using to attack Ukraine.
North Korea has unveiled a new ‘suicide’ drone that bears a striking resemblance to notorious Iranian drones “Shahed” which Russia have been using to attack Ukraine.
The new unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was unveiled in a military test overseen by North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. The images broadcast by the North Korean state channel are blurred but experts say there's enough to see the resemblance to the Iran-made Shahed and the Russia-made Lancet-3.
The relationship between the three countries has deepened since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both Iran and North Korea are accused of helping the Russian war efforts by sending weapons, including missiles and drones.
“We understand that some gifts [drones] were given in an exchange between North Korea and Russia in the past,” a spokesperson for South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said Monday when asked about the similarities. “We need to analyze various measures to see if those have improved performance.”
South Korea may be most concerned about North Korea’s military advancements. But the United States would also watch carefully for such signs of close cooperation between Russia, Iran and North Korea.
Iran has invested heavily in its missile and drone program, testing several iterations of its flagship drone, Shahed, which has been used by Russia to attack Ukraine, and was used by Iran to attack Israel in April.
The North Korean ‘suicide’ drone tested on Monday “can fly over 1,000 km,” a South Korean scientist told Agence France-Presse. “They are demonstrating their capacity to strike targets at both tactical and strategic levels.”
The expanding drone fleet of nuclear-armed North Korea will “be deployed within various striking ranges to target any enemy on land or at sea," the North Korean official news agency (KCNA) claimed following the test Monday.
Kim was shown smiling at the drones’ reported effectiveness. He called for “more suicide drones” to be made, according to KCNA.
In 2022, North Korea sent drones across the border that the South Korean military failed to shoot down.
Suicide (or kamikaze) drones are UAVs carrying explosives that are guided remotely to crash into targets, effectively acting as guided missiles.
The sound of explosions rang out in central Kyiv on Monday morning during rush hour as Ukraine's military warned of a massive Russian missile attack following waves of drone attacks in the early hours. According to reports by Ukraine’s air force, Russia had 11 TU-95 strategic bombers in the air to launch cruise missiles.
At least three people were killed, and several were wounded with reports of damage to energy infrastructure.
The Russian military launched missiles from the Caspian Sea, with aircraft taking off from several airfields. Additionally, missiles were launched from Black Sea carriers, and a massive raid by Russian attack drones was reported in various regions in Kyiv and other cities.
More than a half of Ukraine's regions were struck Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
"Today, 15 regions were affected by a massive Russian attack. The enemy used various types of weapons: drones, cruise missiles, and Kinzhals (supersonic missiles). There are wounded and dead," Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia attacked Ukraine with over 100 missiles, and about 100 drones, confirming that the country’s energy sector saw a lot of damage.
Russia primarily employs Iranian drones, particularly Shahed models, as suicide drones in its conflict against Ukraine. The exact number of Shahed drones used in the Monday attack is not released yet. Iran's support for Russia's military actions has drawn significant international scrutiny.
Since mid-2022, Iran has reportedly supplied Russia with over a thousand kamikaze Shahed UAVs, which have been extensively used to target civilian infrastructure and cities across Ukraine.
In March, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps accused Iran of supplying Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine, claiming the regime is a "bad influence" not only on the Middle East but also in Europe.
Approximately 15 missiles and 15 drones targeting the capital of Kyiv were downed, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, wrote on Telegram Monday.
Additionally, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, called on Kyiv's allies to allow long-range attacks on Russia with Western-supplied weapons. "Such a decision will accelerate the end of Russian terror," Yermaksaid on Telegram messenger.
The Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said on X that Polish and allied aircraft had been activated after Russia launched the attack which also targeted regions in Ukraine's west near the Polish border.
Ukrainians have been expecting a major Russian missile attack for some time. The US embassy issued a warning last week of an elevated risk of attack around Ukrainian Independence Day, which Ukraine marked on Saturday.
Ukraine has itself stepped up its long-range drone attacks on Russia striking military and industrial targets. Ukraine had no powerful long-range weapons at the start of the war, but has since developed many models of long-range attack drone and used them to hit targets deep inside Russia, ranging from oil refineries, weapons depots, to military airfields.
Over the weekend, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had developed a new "drone missile" that had been used to attack Russia and was more powerful and faster than other hardware in Kyiv's arsenal.