The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has already sent to Russia more than 1.5 million rounds of artillery ammunition, however these shells were made in 70s-80s, Deputy Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine, Major General Vadym Skibitsky has said.

"As of today, taking into account the available statistics, Russia has already imported 1.5 million rounds of ammunition from the DPRK. However, these shells were made in 70s, 80s. Half of them does not work and the rest need to be either restored or checked before being used. What is North Korea's benefit? It gives away old stuff, asks to ramp up the domestic production and asks certain technologies in exchange, particularly missile and submarine ones with the aim of developing its own defense industry," he said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

The Main Intelligence Directorate also confirmed that Russia has used North Korean missiles in Ukraine, adding that these ballistic missiles contain massive warheads of up to 500 kilograms.

"It is very hard to identify what exactly they launch – a KN-23 or an Iskander. But they still have ballistic characteristics. The only thing we know for sure is that these missiles are different in size. Secondly, the North Korean missiles were developed recently, because, most likely, Russian Iskander was taken as a basis," Skibitsky said.

According to the Ukrainian intelligence, Russia promised to transfer additional technologies for the DPRK to improve its weapons.

"This proves once again that Russia lacks its own production capacity for a rapid and powerful increase in missile production. If it did not, why would it ask North Korea," Skibitsky said.