North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine in a major escalation of support for Moscow, the White House said Thursday.

Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, it said.

The Pyongyang-supplied missiles with ranges of around 900 kilometers were fired by Russia in two attacks on Ukraine within the past week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.