Ukrainian Intelligence: North Korea Supplies Up to 50% of Russia’s Ammunition Needs
North Korea supplies Russia with 35 to 50% of all its ammunition needs, becoming one of the main sources of weapons for the war against Ukraine.
The Gaze reports this, referring to Ukrainian Pravda.
According to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Pyongyang supplies Moscow with 200,000 to 260,000 152 mm and 122 mm artillery shells every month. In addition to ammunition, Russia has received launchers and KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles from North Korea, which are actively used in attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian intelligence emphasizes that both states are using the war as a testing ground for North Korean weapons. These include, in particular, the modernized Phoenix-2 anti-tank systems (analogous to the Soviet Konkurs), the long-range Bulsae-4 anti-tank guided missile systems, and the large-caliber KN-25 rocket systems.
According to estimates by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), between 8,500 and 13,000 North Korean troops are stationed in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, allowing the Russians to transfer their own forces to the front. In September, another thousand or so DPRK military personnel arrived in the region, including sappers and builders.
The Kremlin is also actively using North Korean labor. Currently, more than 17,800 DPRK citizens are working in Russia, and another 26,000 are planned to be recruited in the near future, 6,000 of them for work in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang demonstrates the formation of a new axis of isolationist regimes that, despite international sanctions, are trying to strengthen their positions in the global confrontation with the West.
As The Gaze informed earlier, South Korean intelligence has reported that around 2,000 North Korean soldiers have already been killed in Russia's war against Ukraine, while Pyongyang is preparing to send thousands more soldiers and engineers to Russia.