In his interview with Bloomberg, South Korea’s defense minister Shin Wonsik said North Korea sent Russia a massive supply of artillery shells and ballistic missiles, with at least 10,000 shipping containers, potentially containing up to 4.8 million artillery shells, detected in transit from North Korea to Russia.
As Kyiv receives billions in new arms from US and European allies, Russia’s prospects for a breakthrough diminish, even as it continues missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, targeting energy infrastructure. Since the September meeting between Putin and Kim in Russia, which boosted trade between the two, North Korea’s munitions shipments to Russia have likely surpassed those from the US and the European Union, enabling sustained Russian bombardments of Ukraine amid dwindling ammunition supplies.
Shin stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to seek even closer security cooperation with North Korea, especially requesting more military supplies like artillery shells, when he visits Pyongyang next week. The trip would be Putin’s first to North Korea since July 2000.
In exchange for the munitions, Russia has provided North Korea with technology to assist its plans to deploy spy satellites, as well as conventional weapons such as tanks and aircraft. The arms transfers have allowed the Kremlin’s forces to heavily bombard Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, as Moscow was facing dwindling ammunition supplies.
Despite denials from Russia and North Korea, US intelligence and commercial satellite imagery reveal Russian cargo ships frequently traveling from North Korea’s Najin port to Dunay, a former Soviet submarine base located approximately 180 kilometers away.
Related:
- Reuters: US announces new sanctions over North Korea-Russia arms transfers
- Why Ukraine’s fight is key to defeating Russia-China-North Korea alliance
- Ukraine: Some 50% of Russian-launched North Korean missiles went off-course and blew up mid-air
- Why Ukraine’s battle is crucial for dismantling the global “axis of evil”
- US diplomat says North Korea ships thousands of ammunition containers to Russia
- Russia vetoes renewal of North Korea sanctions monitors amid accusations of weapons transfer
- FT: Satellite images reveal Russia’s oil supplies to UN-sanctioned North Korea
- North Korea ships “7,000 containers of military aid to Russia”
