It Seems that North Korea Helps russia with Ammunition for Rare 240-mm Cheburashka MLRS
Footage of using a rare Cheburashka multiple launch rocket system with a declared caliber of 217 mm by russian occupiers was shown by media. But the actual caliber of this system is 240 mm.
It is known that before russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, these missile systems formally belonged to so-called 1st Army Corps of the Donetsk separatists. russian propaganda presented Cheburashka systems as their development, made in temporarily occupied part of Donetsk Oblast. In addition, this is only the second mention of Cheburashka MLRS during the entire period of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
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In August 2022, occupiers demonstrated that their 1st Army Corps had received two additional Cheburashka systems, but without disclosing other important details.
The first of these details is the possible number of these MLRSs. It is believed that they were made in single instances.
The second detail is where russian invaders get ammunition for this 240 mm MLRS because this caliber is not standard for russian army.
But according to The Military Balance 2023, the Korean People’s Armyhas a whole range of 240-mm MLRSs at once. These are BM-24 MLRS as well as systems under indexes M-1985, M-1989, and M-1991.
The “Cheburashka” MLRS has 64 launchers for “217-mm” missiles with a declared range of up to 9600 meters. The artillery installation is based on the KrAZ-260 truck chassis (6×6).
Earlier War Ukraine-Russia News Hub reported that russia had used new missile systems against Ukraine more frequently but with no tangible result.
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