Satellite images show North Korea boosting arms flow to Russia
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. North Korea and Russia are deepening their military cooperation, as Pyongyang ramps up the supply of arms to Moscow for the war in Ukraine and receives much needed cash and oil from the Kremlin in return. Recent satellite images show that North Korea is shipping more munitions to Russia and is expanding arms production at home to churn out the weapons Moscow needs to feed its voracious war machine.
Assistance from North Korea is allowing Russia to press its advantage against exhausted Ukrainian troops and could help it resist pressure from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to end the conflict. In turn, Pyongyang is already receiving much-needed cash and oil from Russia. Western officials worry North Korea could also ask for sensitive nuclear technology and material support from Russia in case of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
The deepening alliance between Russia and North Korea is alarming to the U.S. and its allies, making both countries more dangerous to their neighbors and more difficult to contain. Millions of artillery shells from Pyongyang have allowed Russia to fill an ammunition deficit caused by almost three years of intense fighting.
North Korean rockets are bombarding Ukrainian cities while Russia’s own missile production has been hobbled by Western sanctions. Military hardware, including multiple launch rocket systems, is flowing into Russia by train, with railroad traffic through the countries’ border reaching record highs. Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian army officer heading a government unit tasked with countering Russian disinformation, said 60% of the artillery and mortar shells used by Russia in Ukraine now come from Pyongyang.
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