This is the astonishing moment a North Korean missile launcher is completely destroyed by a Ukrainian drone while its crew was still inside.
The footage released by Ukrainian military shows its projectile tearing through the 240mm calibre multiple rocket launcher (MLRS), known as the M1991, in the village of Novopavlivka.
It comes just two months after North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had deployed troops and artillery to fight alongside Russians in Ukraine.
Posting the video to social media, the Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces, who specialise in drone warfare in the Ukrainian military, said it had decimated the ‘rare’ North Korean launcher.
They wrote: ‘In the Novopavliv direction, operators of the 413th Battalion “Raid” Forces of Unmanned Systems detected and destroyed the reactive system of salvage fire M1991 manufactured by North Korea.’
The unit added that the incident occurred in April this year and that it was the first time it had seen such levels of North Korean assistance on the battlefield.
In the footage, the drone can be seen approaching the MLRS, which has a range of up to 60 kilometres, before it unleashes the jaw-dropping precision strike in the village around 35 miles away from the city of Zaporizhzhia.
The impact then causes the warhead to completely rip through to the crew compartment, where two soldiers appear to jump out the window after somehow escaping the blast.
The drone can be seen approaching the MLRS, which has a range of up to 60 kilometres
It then unleashes the jaw-dropping precision strike in the village around 35 miles away from the city of Zaporizhzhia
The impact then causes the warhead to completely rip through to the crew compartment
The Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces said it had decimated the ‘rare’ North Korean launcher
Two soldiers appear to jump out the window after somehow escaping the blast
The Command of the Unmanned Systems Forces said it then destroyed ‘the entire ammunition’.
It is thought that the Russian military had sought to use the M1991 as it was an improvement on its own Uragan 220mm MLRS – as Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine.
North Korea has proven to be a staunch ally of the Russian President after it provided ballistic missiles, 120 long-range artillery systems and 120 MLRS’s to the Kremlin.
Those figures, which were announced by Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov, represented the most significant direct military package handed to Russia by any country since the war broke out.
It was also reported in May that Russia and North Korea had begun building their first road link, with the two countries hailing the construction of a bridge over a border river as a major development that will further expand their political and economic ties.
The kilometre-long Tumangang Road bridge, which is expected to take 18 months to construct, aims to expand cross-border travel of people, tourism and circulation of commodities, Russian and North Korean news agencies reported.
Before the announcment, both countries simultaneously held a ceremony for the bridge’s construction in their respective border cities of Tumangang and Khasan on either side of the Tumen River, close to their existing rail ‘Friendship Bridge’.
North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song said the bridge’s construction would be remembered as ‘a historic monument’ in bilateral ties, North Korea’s KCNA reported.
‘This is a big milestone for Russian-Korean relations,’ Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin added, according to Russian news agency TASS.
‘We are creating a reliable basis for closer cooperation between our two countries, a road for an open and fruitful dialogue.’
It came days after Pyongyang confirmed it had sent combat troops to Russia to help it reclaim parts of the Kursk region that Ukrainian forces seized in a stunning incursion last year.
Pictured: Vladimir Putin (left) and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un (right) during a signing ceremony of the new partnership in Pyongyang, North Korea, on June 19, 2024
Putin thanked North Korea and promised not to forget the sacrifices of its soldiers for Russia.
According to a South Korean government intelligence assessment previously shared with lawmakers, North Korea had sent about 15,000 troops to Russia and 4,700 of them have been killed or wounded at that time.
State media in North Korea said its fighters had made an ‘important contribution’ to Russia’s war effort by driving Ukrainians out of Russian territory.
North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying: ‘They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honour of the motherland.’
