WASHINGTON: Russia is buying millions of artillery shells and rockets from old Cold-War ally North Korea, according to US officials, who said this indicated Moscow is suffering severe supply shortages in its war in Ukraine.
US officials said they could confirm a report in the New York Times citing a recently declassified US intelligence assessment and added that additional Russian purchases of North Korean military equipment were expected.
"The Russian Ministry of Defense is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use on the battlefield in Ukraine," an official said by email when asked about the paper's report.
The official said the purchases indicated that the Russian military "continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine, due in part to export controls and sanctions."
"We expect Russia could try to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward," said the official, who did not want to be identified by name.
The Times report late on Monday quoted US officials as saying the purchases showed US-led sanctions had begun to reduce Russia's ability to sustain its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow has called a "special military operation".
Ukraine recently launched counteroffensives in several locations. In preparation for those attacks, Ukrainian forces struck Russian supply areas, including those containing artillery and ammunition.
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Officials have said Western sanctions are limiting Russia's ability to replace vehicles and weapons destroyed in Ukraine.
The Russian and North Korean missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
North Korea experts said Pyongyang is keen to raise income through weapons sales to counter international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs that Russia in the past has supported.
Alastair Morgan, who served as Britain's ambassador to North Korea from 2015 to 2018 and who was also the coordinator for the U.N. Panel of Experts that monitors enforcement of sanctions on North Korea, told a webinar he had no information to verify the report about Russian purchases, but added: "If it could, I'm quite sure that (North Korea) would sell arms to whoever would take them."
He noted that Pyongyang had repeatedly expressed support for Russia in Ukraine and clearly wanted to remain on good terms with Russia, as well as China, so that they would continue to block any further U.N. Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang.
Jenny Town of the Washington-based North Korea monitoring project 38 North said the reports were "very plausible" after recent high-level statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledging deeper cooperation.
"There are reports of Russian wheat and oil supplies to North Korea, and certainly, the North Koreans are not providing supplies for free," she said.
North Korean media last month quoted Putin as telling Kim their countries would expand "comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations", while Kim said bilateral "strategic and tactical cooperation, support and solidarity" had reached a new level in a common effort to frustrate hostile military forces.