Jun 10 — Russia is sharing technology with North Korea to produce the Shahed family of drones, which have been the major long-range threat to Ukraine, said Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s intelligence chief, in an interview with The War Zone.

Russia is enhancing Shahed drones, improving their flight distance, payload, connectivity, and attack patterns. They currently produce about 2,000 Shaheds per month and plan to increase that to 5,000. 

On Sunday night into Monday, Russia conducted one of the most massive drone attacks on Ukraine, launching 479 Shaheds and decoys of various types across Ukraine, said the Ukrainian Air Force.

Budanov warned that Shaheds would allow North Korea to strike anywhere in South Korea, potentially in massive numbers. These drones could overwhelm South Korea’s air defenses, paving the way for other weapons to attack. They might  also be sent back to Russia to  fuel its war in Ukraine.

“There are agreements of the creation of capabilities to produce UAVs of the Garpiya and Geran (the Russian version of Iranian Shahed-136 drones) types on the territory of North Korea. It will for sure bring changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea,” he said.

The intelligence chief also said that Russia is sharing additional technologies with North Korea, improving the accuracy of its KN-23 (Hwasong-11) ballistic missile. 

“Initially, with the beginning of the transfer to Russia, they were flying with a deviation of a few kilometers, but now they are exactly hitting the target. This is the result of the common work of Russian and North Korean specialists,” Budanov said.

Budanov also talked about technology to upgrade North Korea’s nuclear-armed submarine and launch ballistic missiles from sea-based carriers.

On June 7, Russia also launched a mass airstrike on Kharkiv with 53 Shahed drones, four glide bombs, and a missile, killing at least three people and injuring at least 22, including a 14-year-old girl and a baby of 1,5 months.

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