>>> Topping our world lead,
North Korea firing more missiles
in a single day than it ever has
before.
South Korean officials counting
at least 23 on Wednesday, which
prompted South Korea's first air
raid warning in six years.
CNN's will Ripley is in Seoul,
where south Koreans are
wondering what prompted Kim
Jong-un's latest provocation.
>> Reporter: In South Korea,
where north Korean nuclear
threats often feel like
background noise, this startling
sound.
[ Sirens ]
>> Reporter: The first air raid
sirens in six years, urging
residents to seek shelter in
underground bunkers.
A north Korean missile came
dangerously close to the island,
crossing a de facto maritime
buffer zone between the north
and south.
Pyongyang never officially
recognized that line, until
Wednesday, they never fired a
missile over it, either.
South Korea's president holding
to his hawkish stance on north
Korea, calling the launch an
effective territorial invasion.
The missile actually fell just
shy of the south's territorial
waters.
He forged ahead with operation
vigilant storm, infuriating
North Korea.
This is South Korea's largest
combined military air drills
with the U.S., five days of war
games, 240 aircraft, thousands
of service members from both
countries.
Pyongyang's foreign ministry
promising powerful followup
measures.
For the Korean peninsula, a day
of unnerving first.
The first time North Korea
launched at least 23 missiles in
a single day, skyrocketing
tensions to levels unseen in
half a decade.
The first time South Korea and
the U.S. Responded by firing
surface-to-air missiles near the
north's territorial waters.
CNN counts 29 north Korean
missile launch events this year,
including a barrage of eight
missiles in a single day back in
June.
And back then, we thought that
was a lot.
Now here we are, almost three
times that amount, and it just
keeps on coming.
So why, Brianna, does Kim
Jong-un feel like he can do this
without consequences?
Simple.
He knows that China and Russia
have veto power at the united
nations security council and XI
and Putin are in no mood to work
with the U.S. And the west to
punish Pyongyang, and he knows
that Joe Biden's eyes are
focused on Ukraine and the
upcoming midterm elections,
which raises questions about
what does he have planned next?
Maybe that seventh underground
nuclear test.
>> We'll be watching for that.
Will Ripley in South Korea,
thank you for that report.
>>> U.S. Officials think that
Kim Jong-un has been secretly
supplying vladamir Putin with
artillery shells for his
unprovoked war in Ukraine.
Katie is part of the CNN team
that broke this reporting today.
So tell us how U.S. Officials
believe North Korea is trying to
conceal these secret shipments.
>> Reporter: According to
declassified intelligence, the
U.S. Believes North Korea is
trying to make it appear as if
these shipments are going to
north Africa or the Middle East,
anywhere but Russia.
North Korea is one of the
toughest intelligence targets
for the United States.
It's an incredibly opaque
target.
A couple of weeks ago, U.S.
Officials were telling us they
have seen no evidence that these
expected shipments of north
Korean artillery had made it to
the battlefield in Ukraine,
leading some to speculate that
North Korea might be backing
away from its alleged agreement
to provide this military support
to Russia.
So it gives you a sense of how
opaque this space is.
Now, thanks to a new piece of
intelligence that's recently
been declassified, the Biden
administration believes the
shipments are proceeding.
But it's important to note that
at this point, it doesn't seem
like the United States has
actually seen any of these
artillery shells on the
battlefield in Ukraine, with
national security council John
Kirby saying earlier today that
the U.S. Is still monitoring to
see whether or not Russia has
received these shipments.
>> And that's really key.
So also very key is this
question of whether Russia might
use a nuclear weapon.
And I know that you are also
hearing that there are U.S.
Officials who are divided on
Intel assessments of that.
>> The biggest issue here is
that there's one decision maker
on the nuclear issue in Russia,
and that's vladamir Putin.
As all intelligence official
also tell you, they can't see in
between his ears.
Today, we reported that the U.S.
Has some intelligence to suggest
that Russian military officials