- Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex trafficking trial set for May 2025
- Bolivia stun Colombia in World Cup qualifiers
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Greece earn late win against England in Nations League, Italy-Belgium stalemate
- Trump biopic 'The Apprentice' hits US theaters weeks before election
- Pavlidis dedicates 'special' Greece win over England to tragic Baldock
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- 'Like a quake': Beirut shaken after deadliest strikes on centre
- Fallen giants Ghana in AFCON trouble after Sudan draw
- Asian leaders meet in Laos with US, Russia on world turmoil
- England gamble backfires as Pavlidis fires emotional Greece to victory
- Obama stumps for Harris, Trump talks US protectionism
- New-look France ease past Israel in Nations League
- Belgium fight back to draw with 10-man Italy in Nations League
- 'Get a life': Hurricane whips up US election storm
- Japan stay perfect in World Cup qualifying
- Relief as Lebanon evacuees dock in Turkey
- Lebanon says 22 dead in Israeli strikes on central Beirut
- NBA boss Silver sees games back in China 'at some point'
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Table tennis and Netflix push Ukraine teen into French Open contention
- Civilians flee Gaza's Jabalia in tightening Israeli siege
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 18
- At least 10 dead in Florida from tornadoes caused by Hurricane Milton
- Warhol's rare 'Queen' collection opens at Dutch museum
- Three-time NBA champion Green retires
- MLB Twins up for sale after 40 years
- S.Sudan floods affect 893,000, over 241,000 displaced: UN
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Windies sweat on injury to 'crucial' Taylor at World Cup
- Lebanon says 11 dead, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Beirut
- Panama lashes out at EU over tax haven 'outrage'
- Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasfire
- TD Bank to pay more than $3 bn to US in money-laundering case
- SAfrica prosecutors drop criminal complaint against president
- 'Good opportunity': Nagelsmann upbeat despite Germany's long injury list
- Hurricane whips up bitter US election battle
- Cameroon bans media talk of president's health amid rumours
- NFL MVP Jackson and rookie phenom Daniels set for showdown
- Chad's capital under threat as floodwaters rise
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit central Beirut
- No answers on strike on reporters in Lebanon one year on: watchdog
- Ramharack picks four wickets as Windies beat Bangladesh in Women's T20 World Cup
- France's City of Light switches to climate-resilient power cables
- Djokovic hails Nadal 'legacy' as Alcaraz in 'shock' over retirement
- Obama hits campaign trail for Harris
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Djokovic tells Nadal: 'Your legacy will live forever'
- Ethel Kennedy, wife of RFK, dead at 96
- Zelensky denies ceasefire with Russia under discussion on trip
Ukraine's forensics experts trace foreign origins of Russian arms
At a research facility in Kyiv, forensic experts pour over the wreckage of missiles, working to confirm that despite unprecedented sanctions, Russia is still using imported components to attack Ukraine.
The courtyard of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise holds dozens of missiles, shells and drones, covered in a dusting of snow.
In metal-walled cabins, experts have examined wreckage from recent attacks using microscopes, screwdrivers and computers.
The researchers -- mainly former military engineers -- have identified parts from across the globe, despite tough sanctions on Russia's technology imports.
AFP journalists were shown a Russian drone carburettor inscribed with "Made in Ireland" and Japanese camera lenses from a Russian Kartograf reconnaissance drone.
Russia sometimes removes foreign marks from components like microchips, said an expert identified as Oleksiy, dismissing those efforts as pointless.
"It doesn't matter, basically," he said.
"How do you hide it? If there are thousands of these microchips, if they wipe off a few of them, what difference does it make?"
Russia imports microelectronics and other hi-tech components for its missiles because there is not enough domestic production of sufficiently high quality.
A Ukrainian government website called War & Sanctions has a database of components found in Russian weaponry originating from over 30 countries.
- North Korea probe -
Oleksiy said "constant pressure" was needed to prevent Russia obtaining microelectronics intended for civilian use.
He said countries involved in the trade included China, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
A report this month by Kyiv's KSE Institute and the Yermak-McFaul international working group repeated Ukraine's concerns that "Russia continues to be able to import large amounts of goods needed for military production".
The United States announced in early January that Russia's close ally North Korea had supplied Moscow with missiles that it fired on Ukraine. Kyiv has yet to confirm.
The team said the institute was awaiting fragments of the suspected North Korean missiles.
"To conduct a investigation, you need samples, you need some documentation, some technical literature," Oleksiy said.
He noted that North Korea could easily supply Russia via their shared land border.
The experts, who go to the scene of missile attacks in Kyiv, said there appeared to be a deterioration in quality of missiles.
- 'Accuracy is missing' -
The head of the military research laboratory, Andriy Kulchitskyi, a 68-year-old former high-ranking military sapper, said that in Russia's recent barrages of missiles on Ukraine's cities, strikes appear less precise.
He cited the heavy bombardment of Kyiv on January 2, during which a downed missile fell beside a block of flats near the central rail station, killing four.
"What we see from their use of their so-called high-precision weapons... (is that) accuracy is missing," he said.
"It's not necessarily linked to a lack of components. They have them," he said of Russia.
"But if they specify accuracy of seven to 10 metres (23 to 33 feet) and it strikes 50-100 metres away, that already means there are production problems in the Russian industry, bad missiles."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently visited the seriously damaged block of flats on Kudryashova Street in Kyiv, where a missile caused a crater in the yard.
Kulchitskyi said the institute's experts were also set to examine a Russian Kh-32 cruise missile that fell in a field in the northern Sumy region bordering Russia in early January.
It just fell from the sky and broke up," he said. "It didn't carry out its operational task."
The Kyiv Institute's experts draw up their findings in response to a request from investigators and their conclusions are handed to courts.
In the case involving civilian casualties, their findings will also go to international courts investigating war crimes.
Ch.Kahalev--AMWN