Kim Jong-Un’s chilling level of weapons supplies to the Kremlin’s war-planners exposed as Vladimir Putin’s military steps up drone attacks on Ukraine in defiance of US attempts to broker a peace deal
Despo Kim Jong-Un has massively boosted Russia’s firepower against Ukraine by supplying up to six million artillery shells to the Kremlin’s frontline troops. The major shift-change in North Korea’s military support for Vladimir Putin ’s war shows an alarming level of cooperation between the two rogue states.
It comes amid fears North Korea is preparing to send thousands more reinforcement troops to the frontline despite having already lost roughly 5,000 in battle. The North Korean casualties were part of an initial 11,000-strong contingent of Pyongyang’s troops sent to Russia to help the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. And the true extent of Pyongyang’s military backing to Russia emerged as Moscow’s troops launched a major drone assault on Ukraine’s port city of Odesa.
So far just three people have been reported injured but locals said the attack has caused widespread damage and terror in the community. The research into North Korea’s arms exports to Russia emerged in a detailed study by the UK-based Open Source Centre and Reuters news agency.
The report says: “Using hundreds of satellite images, 3D modelling, and analysis of munitions and crate configurations, OSC estimates that these ships transported over 15,000 containers likely containing between 4.2 and 5.8 million munitions, including 122 mm and 152 mm artillery shells and 122 mm rockets.
“This supply has become a critical enabler of Russia’s sustained artillery fire in Ukraine. The North Korean munitions pipeline presents a significant strategic challenge. By enabling Russia to maintain its offensive momentum, it undermines the effectiveness of Western military assistance to Ukraine.
“If left unaddressed, this flow of arms could tilt the battlefield further in Moscow’s favour and accelerate broader security risks across both Europe and East Asia.”
And a UK former intelligence officer told the Daily Mirror : “It is worrying that North Korea and Russia have become such interdependent allies and this has implications beyond Ukraine. “It is also possible that Russia is becoming increasingly close to Iran, which complicates any desire by Israel and the United States to pressure it not to obtain nuclear weapons.
“The one positive out of this could be that there have been reports that North Korean weaponry has been found to be in part sub-standard.” Kim’s large-scale ammunition deliveries by sea and by rail were transported in 15,800 containers taken in 64 shipments from North Korean port Rajin between 2023 up until now.
Four Russian container ships Angara, Maria, Maia-1 and Lady R were used to smuggle the weaponry and were distributed to Russian ports Vostochny and Dunay. Intelligence estimates of North Korea’s ammunition supplies to Moscow’s troops are between four and six million shells from mid-2023.
This means, apart from Iranian Shahed Kamikaze drones and other technology, North Korea has become Russia’s primary war ally. Both countries are under heavy sanctions from the west and the weapons supplies break many of the sales bans.
Ukraine intelligence also beleves that on some days of fighting as much as 100% of shells used by Russian troops have been North Korean, while other days exposed 75% usage. In the summer of 2024, a Russian unit operating on the southeastern Zaporizhzhia front recorded that half of its D-20 howitzer shells were 152mm North Korean-made rounds, and all of its 122mm rockets were also sourced from Pyongyang.
According to Ukraine intelligence estimates since mid-2023, North Korea has transferred over mainly 122mm and 152mm caliber shells. These are the backbone of Russia’s artillery forces’ ammunition.
The US-based Institute for the Study Of War says North Korea’s troops fighting for Russia in Ukraine are part of a Pyongyang project to beef up their fighting skills for future combat. However the truth is half of them have been killed in battle,up to 6,000 so far, but with more on their way. It has also emerged that a “strategic partnership” treaty between Russia and Iran has been settled upon.
Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, ratified the agreement today (weds), which was signed by Vladimir Putin in January, according to state news agency TASS. The pact is not a military alliance but does formalise ties between Iran and Russia that have developed since the beginning of the war. Moscow has now become almost independent of Iran’s drone production as it has built up its own domestic production.
