Ukraine war: Russia's Wagner received weapons from North Korea, US claims
The notorious Russian private military company, Wagner Group, has received weapons from North Korea to help bolster its forces as it fights side-by-side with Russian troops in Ukraine, US authorities claimed.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday US intelligence officials determined that Pyongyang completed an initial arms shipment that included rockets and missiles last month.
"We assess that the amount of material delivered to Wagner will not change battlefield dynamics in Ukraine," Kirby said. "But we're certainly concerned that North Korea is planning to deliver more military equipment."
On Friday, North Korea again flatly denied it had shipped munitions to Russia, calling Washington's accusation of arms transfers to Russia "the groundless theory" cooked up by "some dishonest forces".
The White House has expressed alarm about Wagner's growing involvement in the war as it has been particularly active in the eastern Donbas region.
Kirby said in certain instances, Moscow military officials have even been "subordinate to Wagner's command".
Biden administration officials said with the arms sales to the private military group, North Korea is violating UN sanctions that ban Pyongyang from importing or exporting weapons.
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the United Nations, called it "despicable" that Russia, a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, which imposed the sanctions, is now using weapons procured from North Korea and Iran "to pursue its war of aggression against Ukraine".
An unidentified spokesman at the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by state media that the nation "remains unchanged in its principled stand on the
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