KYIV, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he believed Russia may have shared jet-drone technology with its longstanding ally North Korea.
In recent weeks, Russia has sharply increased its use of jet-drones against Ukraine, which so far has no effective means of countering them other than using combat aircraft.
Earlier in the war, North Korea supplied Russia with millions of artillery shells, and it has since provided ballistic missiles that Moscow regularly uses to attack Ukrainian cities.
Asked if Russia had shared with North Korea the technology behind its latest generation of jet-powered drones, Zelenskiy told journalists: “Yes, of course.”
“They (Russia) are sharing with North Korea all the technologies. I don’t know about the ballistic and etc, but I think, yes, because North Korea helped them with missiles,” he added.
South Korea and Western countries have previously voiced concerns that Pyongyang may be getting help with weapons development from Moscow in return for its help in Ukraine.
Thousands of North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia to gain combat experience in the war.
Seoul and Kyiv have been locked in a diplomatic dispute since Zelenskiy announced at the United Nations General Assembly last month that Ukraine had transferred two North Korean prisoners of war captured while fighting for Russia to South Korea.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday threatened unspecified measures against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledged a confidentiality agreement that Seoul says covered the transfer and issued an apology.
“South Korea asked us to give them North Korean soldiers. By the way, according to their constitution, they are their citizens … so we gave them these two guys,” Zelenskiy said, without alluding to Lee’s comments.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Felix Hoske; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Alex Richardson)
