As Russian President Vladimir Putin meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, the ties between Russia and North Korea are the strongest they have been in decades.
Moscow and Pyongang announced a new defense pact on Wednesday, including “mutual assistance in case of aggression against one of the parties to this treaty,” according to Putin.
The news follows reports of North Korea providing artillery shells, and — if US and Ukrainian sources are to be trusted — even ballistic missiles for Russia to use in Ukraine, with Russia allegedly offering assistance in military and satellite technology. Both sides denied these reports, at this would mean breaking the UN arms embargo against North Korea.
South Korea: Pyongyang could have delivered nearly 5 million shells
Last week, South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said his country detected up to 10,000 shipping containers traveling from North Korea to Russia, which could contain up to 4.8 million artillery shells. In an interview with the US-based media corporation Bloomberg, Wosnik said Putin was likely to ask for more during his visit to Pyongyang.
An earlier report by US intelligence spoke of “at least 3 million” North Korean shells being delivered to Russia.
If confirmed, these deliveries would be a massive boon to Russia in its war of attrition in Ukraine, where both sides have complained of chronic “shell famine” hampering artillery strikes.
Talking to DW Russian, Austrian military expert Wolfgang Richter pointed out that Kyiv’s EU allies had failed to provide even a million shells to Ukraine within the self-imposed deadline of one year.
“In the end, after a year, only about half of [a million] was delivered, with the rest to come by the end of this year,” he said.
He also estimated that North Korea had likely provided up to 3 million artillery shots to Russia.
“It might not be decisive, but it is a significant supply,” Richter said.
US, Ukraine say Russian forces use North Korean missiles
In January, the US accused Moscow of using short-range ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to hit targets in Ukraine. The missiles fired by Russia have a range of about 550 miles (900 kilometers), according to US national security spokesperson John Kirby. He did not provide details on the types of missiles used, but a graphic distributed by the White House showed KN-23 and KN-25 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs).
Ukrainians later collaborated claims of North Korean rockets being used against them, saying they have examined remains of over 20 North Korean missiles fired on their territory. Last month, US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) declassified a report providing what they claimed was photo evidence on crashed North Korean rockets in Ukraine.
