Deputy Ministry of Ukraine's Information Policy Ministry Dmytro Zolotukhin has said the specialist cited in the article appearing in The New York Times on August 14, titled "North Korea’s Missile Success Is Linked to Ukrainian Plant, Investigators Say," Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, has close ties with Russia. Elleman from 1995 to 2001 headed the Cooperative Threat Reduction program in Russia, aimed at dismantling obsolete long-range missiles.

"It's interesting the article appearing in this always worded-up publication is based in large measure on the remarks of one rocket expert, who from 1995 to 2001 headed the program in Russia to dismantle rockets. This is not included in his LinkedIn profile," Zolotukhin said on his Facebook page on Monday, adding a link to Elleman's LinkedIn profile.

"It turns out that the majority of "western experts," who criticize Ukraine have former ties with Russia. This is not conspiracy theory, but it's interesting, nonetheless," the deputy minister said.

Zolotukhin said Ukraine is typically accused at a minimum once a year of illegally exporting weapons.

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Head Oleksandr Turchynov and the Dnipro-based Pivdenmash rocket factory on August 14 flatly denied manufacturing military missiles or missile systems in the years of [Ukraine's] independence.

Pivdenmash officials said the only serial engine that had been exported in the past several years - the RD-843 shipped to Italy for the European launch vehicle Vega - is designed to operate in outer space, and its features, including its thrust, makes it unsuitable for use in military ballistic missiles.

"The information presented in the report is not consistent with reality: in particular, Pivdenmash is far from being a primary producer of missiles for Russia, and it also does not supply Russia with any missiles or its components or elements, including rocket engines," a statement from Pivdenmash says.