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Russia Giving North Korea Shahed-136 Attack Drone Production Capability: Budanov
In a one-hour-long exclusive interview with The War Zone on June 7, Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov offered his unique take on a wide range of topics, from the state of the war to the advancements in Ukraine's drone boat campaign against Russia to whether Kyiv will attempt to attack Russian nuclear submarines. In this installment, Budanov, commander of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR), told us how Russia is supplying technology and knowledge to help North Korea build long-range kamikaze drones and drastically improve the accuracy of its KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles. This is in addition to helping to develop Pyongyang's fledgling submarine-based nuclear deterrent. Russia has become a key supporter of Russia's war effort, providing millions of artillery rounds and even troops in exchange.
Budanov says the ability to produce the Shahed family of drones, in particular, which has been the most prolific long-range aerial threat to Ukraine for years, is being given to North Korea. Originally provided by Iran, Russia is now building about 2,000 per month with plans to increase that to 5,000 per month. Russia is continually improving their range, payload, connectivity and attack patterns. Between Sunday night and Monday alone, Russia launched 479 Shaheds and decoys of various types across Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Having Shaheds will give North Korea the ability to hit targets anywhere in South Korea and potentially in huge volumes. They can overwhelm the South's air defenses, paving the way for attacks by other munitions. They could also be exported back to Russia to support the war in Ukraine.
Overnight, Ukraine successfully intercepted almost 500 Russian drones and missiles in what officials described as one of the largest and most intense attacks since the start of the full-scale invasion. The barrage included hundreds of Shahed-type drones, cruise missiles, and…
— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) June 9, 2025
The first batch of KN-23s North Korea provided to Russia were woefully inadequate. According to a report from Ukrainian state prosecutors, around half of them — also known as Hwasong-11 — not only deviated from their trajectory but also exploded in midair. Since then, they have been dramatically improved thanks to Russian help, Budanov told us, now striking with deadly accuracy. This has given Russia a badly needed source of SRBMs.
These improvements could extend beyond the KN-23s. While Budanov did not specify what was changed, this is likely to boost the capabilities of its many other ballistic missiles, extending the dangers beyond the peninsula.
Russian aid to North Korea, Budanov suggests, will alter the balance of power on the peninsula.
With that background out of the way, here are the questions and answers pertaining to these issues from our interview, which have been lightly edited for clarity:
Q: What are the latest developments about North Korea and its assistance to Russia?
A: [There are] agreements on the beginning 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.
Q: How many of these drones will Russia help North Korea develop?
A: So they just agreed to start the organization of this production on the territory of North Korea.
Q: What else is Russia giving North Korea in turn for supplying troops and weapons?
A: It's more about technology transfer.
Q: What kind of technology?
A: One example is the technology for the production of UAVs. The other technological solution is, I told you before about the KN-23 ballistic missiles. 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. Also, there is the modernization of the aviation means of engagement — long-range air-to-air missiles. Particular technologies on submarines. Unfortunately, ballistic missiles which are carriers of nuclear payloads.
Q: So Russia is helping North Korea improve its nuclear weapon system as well?
A: So let's say they had huge problems with the carriers of these missiles and the firing from their sea component. And Russians are helping them with this. And the great demonstration of this for everybody is, as I mentioned before, this famous KN-23 ballistic missile. The KN-23 missiles that were delivered in the very beginning, now it's an absolutely different missile in [terms] of their technical characteristics. The accuracy is increased many times.
Q: What's the latest on North Korean troops, weapons and equipment being delivered to Russia, and what is Russia giving in return? How many North Korean troops are in Russia, and is any new equipment going there?
A: The range of armaments provided by North Korea to Russia is quite wide, starting with [122mm] D-74 [howitzers] and 107mm infantry variant [multiple launch rocket systems] MLRS systems to 240mm MLRS and the 170mn M1989 [Koksan self-propelled artillery guns]. Unfortunately, this gun is demonstrating itself quite well in battle. It's firing from quite a long range, and it's quite good in terms of accuracy.
I was able to geolocate and thus confirm that the photo of North Korean M-1978/1989 Koksan 170mm SPGs was taken in Russia.
56.069386, 92.920244Krasnoyarsk, central Russiahttps://
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) November 14, 2024
Q: How many Koksans have they gotten and how many will they get?
A: We have data that the Russian Federation was provided 120 pieces. But I think that supply will continue because these guns are demonstrating themselves quite well. This is unfortunate for us because this is artillery for long-range firing.
Q: How many North Korean troops are there in Russia now?
A: There are about 11,000 North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast. But there is also the problem of the visit of [Sergei Shoigu], the Secretary of the National Security Council of the Russian Federation, to North Korea. And there he, among other things, agreed on the beginning of work of so-called labor migrants on the territory of Russia in order to partially replace the labor migrants from Central Asia that they consider as not stable for their state and vulnerable to recruitment by our special services and Western ones. But there is a big probability that people among this labor migrant, they will start to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense of Russia. And it wouldn't be the warriors from North Korea. It would be Russian warriors, but of North Korean nationality.
Q: How many of those migrant workers from North Korea do you anticipate will go?
A: So this agreement just happened recently. That's why we [are] just working on the specific numbers. And we would like to answer this question. We need to confirm the exact number that will come to Russia.
Stay tuned for our second installment from our most recent interview with Budanov that includes discussions about recent aid provided to Russia by China and Iran.
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