- North Korea is secretly sending a “significant” amount of artillery shells to Russia, the US said.
- Shipments are being disguised to seem as if they’re going to the Middle East and North Africa.
- The National Security Council’s John Kirby said this won’t change the course of the Ukraine war.
North Korea is secretly sending a “significant” amount of artillery shells to Russia, the White House said on Wednesday, though it likely won’t dramatically improve Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said North Korea is trying to disguise the shipments and make it seem as though the deliveries are going to countries in North Africa or the Middle East, the Associated Press, CNN, and Politico reported.
“Our information indicates that the DPRK is covertly supplying Russia’s war in Ukraine with a significant number of artillery shells, while obfuscating the real destination of the arms shipments by trying to make it appear as though they are being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa,” CNN reported Kirby as saying.
It was not immediately clear how the Biden administration obtained the intelligence, nor was it revealed how much ammunition was being sent. The Associated Press reported that Kirby said the US will monitor to see if the shipments are received by Moscow and stressed that the ammunition would not change the course of the eight-month-long war.
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
US officials said in early September that Russia had approached North Korea for discussions about military assistance but declined to say if there was a monetary transaction. At the time, the White House and the Pentagon said the move indicated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desperation and that his war efforts in Ukraine were faltering.
During a Tuesday briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that Russia has tried and continues to seek ammunition from North Korea, which Pyongyang previously denied.
North Korea is not the only country whose help Russia has sought throughout its unprovoked war in Ukraine. Iran has sent Moscow various types of drones, including explosive suicide systems like the Shahed-136, which Russian forces have used to terrorize Ukrainians in cities far from the front lines.
The State Department said last month that Russian officials traveled to Iran to receive training on how to operate the weapons, and more recently, Iranian military personnel visited occupied Crimea to help Putin’s troops use the drones on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Recent efforts to secure weaponry and ammunition from North Korea and Iran come as Russian forces face a dwindling supply of long-range precision munitions.
“I think it does speak to the state of Russia’s munitions capability. We’ve said before that we assess that they are — they continue to experience supply shortages when it comes to munitions, particularly guided munitions,” Ryder said of Moscow’s search for weapons overseas at Tuesday’s Pentagon briefing.
“It also is indicative of where they’re seeking munitions from countries like North Korea and Iran, which says a lot about the kind of company they keep and where they stand in the world right now in terms of isolation,” he added.
