 Half of Russia's North Korea-made artillery shells don't work. Half of more than a million artillery shells shipped to Russia from North Korea are faulty, a senior Ukrainian defence official has said, according to Newsweek. Vadim Skibitskyi, number two at Ukraine's main intelligence directorate, the Defence Intelligence Agency also known as the GUR, said the Kremlin had turned to its reclusive Asian neighbour to complement Russia's limited arms production but with mixed results. Today, if we take the available statistical data, the Russians have already imported 1.5 million rounds of ammunition from the DPRK, Skibitskyi said, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea. But these munitions are from the 70s and 80s, half of them do not function and the rest require either restoration or inspection before use. The GUR official said, citing Ukraine's latest assessment, Kim Jong-un benefits from giving away old munitions while demanding an increase in production in North Korea's own ammunition plants. According to Skibitskyi, Pyongyang was also able to ask Moscow for certain technologies in return, including those that would facilitate its missile and submarine development, he said. The Ukrainian official said North Korea was undoubtedly requesting technologies related to its nuclear weapons programme, a development that would add further uncertainties to already sky-high tensions on the Korean peninsula. Aside from artillery shells, Russia continues to produce its own rockets while firing North Korean-made ballistic missiles to, said Skibitskyi. The Russian defence industry was still struggling to overcome its lack of access to foreign-made electronic components, largely cut off by Western sanctions, which is impacting the quality of the missiles used by Russia's forces, the GUR official said. Russian S-350 air defence system damaged by own mines. The Telegram channel spy dossier disclosed an incident involving the Russian airborne forces in the occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk. The 50P-6E launcher, part of the S-350E Vityaz air defence system, was damaged during night operations. According to available information, the Russian forces ironically became victims of a mine from defences presumably laid by themselves. Army recognition media outlets say that the explosion caused no casualties as the missiles on the 50P-6E launcher were not detonated. However, the chassis of the vehicle was considerably damaged, leaving the launcher immobilised in a densely mined area. The Russian soldier's fear of triggering further mines delayed recovery efforts, with the damaged launcher still at the scene of the incident at the time of writing. However, this fear shows that this minefield has served its purpose, even if it is the Russian, not the Ukrainian advance that is being slowed down. The S-350E Vityaz air defence system developed by the Russian defence company Almas Ante was introduced to replace older systems like the S-300PS, offering advancements such as improved radar and a launcher with a capacity for 16 missiles, a significant upgrade compared to its predecessors. Ukraine prepares military surprise for Russia, new drones may strike deep into Russian territory. Ukraine will produce thousands of long-range UAVs capable of striking deep into Russian territory in 2024 and already has up to 10 companies producing drones that can reach Moscow and St Petersburg. Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology of Ukraine Mikhail Fedorov stated this in an interview with the Reuters news agency. The category of long-range kamikaze drones with a flight range of 300, 500, 700 and 1,000 kilometers is growing. Two years ago, such a category did not exist at all, he said. Unlike Russia, where the state dominates drone production in Ukraine, the vast majority of manufacturers are private. According to Fedorov, only one out of 10 companies whose drones can fly to Moscow and St Petersburg is state-owned. Fedorov agrees with the opinion of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirill Budenov, that Kiev has achieved a certain parity with Moscow in the production of long-range UAVs. We should act in an anti-bureaucratic way. This is the essence of a breakthrough in the technology war. We are going to continue to rely on this to work in this direction because technology can really save us, says the Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology of Ukraine. According to Fedorov, more than 300,000 drones of various types were contracted last year and more than 100,000 deployed to the front.