North Korea has supplied more than 1,000 containers of military equipment to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, according to the White House.
“We condemn DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment that will be used to attack Ukrainian cities, kill Ukrainian civilians, and promote Russia’s illegitimate war,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, using the acronym in North Korean English.
“We will continue to monitor any additional shipments of weapons” to Russia, he adds. In exchange for its support, Kirby says, “Pyongyang seeks military assistance from Russia, including fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or other advanced materials and technologies.”
For him, “this expanding military partnership” between the two countries “undermines regional stability and the global non-proliferation regime.”
According to a chart provided by the White House, between September 1 and October 1, a shipment of containers was shipped by sea from Najin, North Korea, to Dunay, Russia.
They were then delivered by rail to an ammunition depot near Tikhoretsk in southwestern Russia, about 290 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
The United States has previously accused North Korea of ??supplying missiles to the Russian paramilitary group Wagner. The Asian country is a producer of conventional weapons and has enormous reserves of war material from the Soviet era, although their status is unknown.
Russia has increased production of shells this year to probably 2.5 million, but analysts estimate it may not meet its battlefield needs.
Russian forces fire around 60,000 shots a day, according to Ukrainian figures.
Although Russia claims that no agreements were signed during North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s visit, Putin acknowledged that he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation.
Russia and North Korea, historical allies, are subject to sanctions, the first for the invasion of Ukraine and the second for their nuclear weapons tests.
According to Kirby, supplies to North Korea violate UN Security Council resolutions.
